Did Hillary Clinton sit in the situation room and approve the bombing of Sadaam in 1998? Did she participate in the last-ditch effort at a Mid-East settlement? Did she go fist to fist with Newt and the Republicans over Medicare reform? Did she plan out the strategy that put the Republicans on the defensive when the government ran out of money during a budget fight?

What about Sandy Berger? Rahm Emmanuel? Madelaine Albright? They had high level executive, decision-making positions. Maybe they should all run for president, too.

Let Hillary run on her Senate experience. I find it extremely anti-feminist and condescending that she claims First Lady experience as preparation for the presidency, and shocking that people take the claim seriously. Even more condescending was Bill taking blame for the failure of Hillary's health care initiative. A woman should stand on her own and fall on her own. Anything less is not equalitly.

The groundwork for a first female President who is connected to a husband who first had the job has been laid for decades in "lesser" state offices like Governor, congress, state legislators.

Often, the set-up is that the man in office dies and the widow runs and wins. "Widow congresswomen" are all around. Sonny Bono's wife became one.

But there are plenty of wives holding state legislative seats that their husbands held while the husbands are still alive. Usually, it is because the husband is term-limited out, so he "passes" the seat to the wife. Keeps the power...and the paycheck..."all in the family." The voters don't mind.

Didn't Governor George Wallace succesfully run his wife for Governor?

And so on.

The groundwork for a first female President has been so well-laid by female US Senators (Feinstein AND Boxer in California) and Governors and legislators and mayors in recent decades that the only real precedent will be the office. (Duh. I know that President is a big precedent, but still...politics isn't a Man's Club anymore. It is not going to be THAT surprising.)

It is perhaps only a natural consequence of "how politics really works" that this first female President, if she occurs, will make it in pretty large part on the coattails of her husband-- and the Old School political machine that they both lord over. It's nothing new. Its how its always been done.

Though I expect in the future will see more husbands take over their wives' old seats....