To be sure, Clinton worked hard to minimize voters’ concerns, dating back to her decision in 2001 to seek a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and, some would argue, her vote to authorize the Iraq war in 2002 and her promise to “obliterate” Iran if it attacked Israel. The woman who launched her presidential campaign almost 500 days ago by asking voters to have a “chat” was soon tossing back whiskey shots in country bars while surrogates talked about her “cojones” and “testicular fortitude.” She "makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy,” North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said of her recently.Still, Clinton supporters are already preparing to make the case that Clinton’s fatal flaw was not her own, but society’s lingering reluctance to fully embrace the prospect of a woman as commander in chief.
“If there weren’t challenges that women faced running for office, EMILY’s List wouldn’t exist,” Ramona Oliver, the group’s communications director, said Wednesday. “Her gender has always been a factor in the race, clearly -- in the media coverage of her, the sexist treatment of her, the double standard.”
Gender was certainly on Clinton’s mind Wednesday evening at a fundraiser for women donors in Washington. Entering to the song “I’m Every Woman,” she suggested that the central reason she refuses to quit this race is because of the potentially historic role she could play for women. “Too many people have fought too hard to see a woman continue in this race, this history-making race, and I want everybody to understand that,” she said.
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