As a girl too young to be considered part of Hillary's true demographic (and also probably too educated and wealthy), I do sort of feel that the sexism against Hillary has been rife throughout her campaign, and though I will undoubtedly vote for Obama rather than McCain, I won't do so with a light heart ...

This was, in my mind, a case of a good looking young man coming in and overshadowing a stalwart older woman without the same charm and charisma ... A man very much like Hillary's husband. For me, Obama's campaign always felt like a lot of bluster, and as time passes his claims seem less and less possible: I haven't seen a new politics in action, and I certainly would prefer "old-style" politics and a Democrat in the White House than "new-style" politics and a Republican.

For me, Hillary represents just the sort of woman who, in this day and age, deserves the presidency -- the sort of woman today's feminists seem to want to emulate. She has, in some ways, had it all -- a political career AND a family -- and while the bumps along the road have been tremendous (certainly I don't envy her), they are also very real prices people have to pay. So, her penalty is because she was mommy- or husband-tracked? (Particularly when it seems that Bill himself was the one who at first benefited from his powerhouse of a wife?) As a 25-year old who plans to be a doctor and raise a family, I can only assume that my life too will be full of compromises on both ends, and I hope I am able to handle it all with the relative aplomb that Hillary has.

Certainly -- in an age when many of my friends are *afraid* to label themselves feminists at all -- I worry about how many young women avoided Clinton's candidacy.