The Race/Gender Gap

Geraldine Ferraro has resigned her place on the Clinton team, after saying that Barack Obama's race has been a great contributor to his meteoric political rise.

It's a sign of the difficulty racial issues still pose in our society that, in contrast, one can say with impunity that Hillary Clinton's meteoric political rise is a result primarily of her status as a woman -- that is, as Bill Clinton's wife. Otherwise, she'd be simply another female senator from a predictably blue state -- somewhat like Barbara Mikulski of Maryland (minus, of course, Senator Mikulski's long record of legislative accomplishment, four terms in the Senate and pleasant personality).

In fact, pieces like this one highlight the extent to which Hillary is relying on her "experience" as Bill Clinton's wife -- and not always accurately, at that.