Re Chris Matthews' comments: "it was that he was saying we could elect her only because we felt sorry for her. Which seems creepier and nastier to me. "

This is a familiar pattern between women and Hillary, going back to when she was First Lady. When she's the take-charge woman, women turn against her. When she's being treated badly, like when Bill's cheating or when the press is riding her, women feel sorry for her and lift her up again. Make up your mind! Seems to me that you all are playing a double standard with yourselves.

The fundamental reason for not riding your husband's coattails into power is that that charge will always follow you, no matter how talented you are. Which is what we're now seeing with Ms. Clinton. Note: this is mostly, to a large extent, an issue for white women - since most minority women in this country don't have this kind of "access to power".

Do women and/or feminists want it to be said that the first female president was elected because people felt sorry for her? That's a hell of a tag to live down. Wouldn't that create a lame duck perception from the start?