"Dream on, if you think gender will stop Clinton"

[SaveElmer]

By MARIANNE MEANS
Copyright 2007 Hearst Newspapers

Republicans in Washington are touting the defeat of French presidential candidate Segolene Royal, the attractive Socialist feminist, as evidence that gender is a stopper in politics and therefore Sen. Hillary Clinton's own presidential aspirations are doomed.

Dream on, boys. It would have been swell to add Royal's name to the growing list of women politicians exercising real international power, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. But Royal is no Hillary. The two had nothing in common but their gender. Royal wasn't out front on popular issues and didn't come across as a strong leader. In other words, she wasn't "man" enough for the job. Hillary, however, is proving every day of this campaign that she has a command of the issues and a steady policy hand that demonstrates she is tough enough to run the country. Despite pressure to do otherwise, she is resolutely running a centrist campaign, not a leftie primary-pleasing one. Like her or not, she comes across as the most qualified, sensible candidate in an overcrowded field.

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4797441.html