Hillary Clinton, the woman the press loves to hate, has garnered a great deal of respect, if not from the Fourth Estate, then from the women who support her. Just ask my friend, Myrtle (name changed to protect the innocent).
Myrtle, an over 55, single, working-class woman, of the demographic Hillary counts as her key support, wasn’t a Hillary fan when this campaign began. But she is now because Hillary, as Myrtle told me yesterday, “Is standing up against the big boys and isn’t taking any of their …“  if you get her drift.

“If they had come at me as they have her, I would have committed suicide,” Myrtle went on to say, of course, kidding. “But Hillary only seems to get stronger with every piercing arrow. She’s the new Margaret Thatcher. She’s looking more and more presidential every day.”

I agreed, but noted that the press was on a new meme building the case against Hillary that she is a liar. "This one seems to have legs,” I opined. “Her poll numbers took a hit on the Bosnia flap.

And now the press is trying to make hay out of a story she had been repeating in her stump speech, a story that she picked up on the trail. This time it is the tale of a pregnant woman denied hospital care. The hospital denies the story’s veracity and now the media is using it as another chance to call Hillary a liar."

Myrtle only laughed. “Smacks of another gender attack,” Myrtle asserted. “What do men always say about women? You’re exaggerating, you’re over-reacting . . .”

“Some of Hillary’s accusers have been women,” I argued.

“You can always count on  successful women to tear down other successful women. It makes them feel more successful.”

Myrtle is very smart.

So, I asked. “What do you think of Barack Obama?  I read a poll that says that his success is based on the fact that he makes people feel good about themselves.”

Myrtle, never one to pull any punches answered, “The guy’s a figment of people’s imaginations. He is not presidential material. And, look, if people want to feel better about themselves, tell them to light up a joint. It’s a cheaper high that won’t cost us the future of the United States. This guy really is green.”

I couldn’t resist, “No, he’s black.”

“Actually,” Myrtle said, “he’s bi-racial, except when he finds it convenient to be black.”

I argued, “But his skin is dark and so many American’s see him as a black man.”

“No, I think many Americans see him as a man. He sees himself as a black man. I believe that’s why he’s getting the free-pass from the media. He’s playing the sympathy card … the one Barack Obama and the press accuses Hillary of playing every time she shows her emotions.”

“Race is so difficult to discuss.”

“So is gender.”

I took the conversation back to Bosnia. I said, “You know, it’s a shame this happened. I understand why it did. Women often feel the need to pad their resumes. No matter what they achieve, it is never enough. Apparently, even Hillary Clinton felt the need. But it’s understandable; the press knows the important role she played in her husband’s presidency. Sadly, men are reluctant to give women credit for their male/female partnership roles. Apparently many members of the press feel the same way about some women’s roles as First Ladies.

“Did you know,” I asked Myrtle, “the extent to which Hillary was actively involved in policy-making during her husbands’ administration? Back to Bosnia, were you aware that she went up against both Defense Secretary William Cohen and Army general Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when they tried to stop an airborne bombing campaign against Slobodan Milosevic?"

"According to sourced reports, President Clinton hesitated on taking action but it was Hillary who told him, ‘You’ve got to bite the bullet.’ Bombs began falling on Serbia a few days later. Hillary Clinton was the first American official to go to Bosnia after the Dayton Peace Accords.”

“Look, you’re preaching to the choir,” Myrtle said.

“Yeah, I guess. So,” I asked, “if Hillary doesn’t make it, you’ll vote for Obama, right? You’re a dyed-in-the-wool liberal.”

"I’m a dyed-in-the-wool American. I’ll vote McCain. Why do so many not get it? It’s about experience, stupid.” 

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