The Sisters are Steamed

"A Democratic race that a couple of months ago was celebrated as a march toward history -- the chance to nominate the nation's first woman or African American as a major-party candidate -- threatens to leave lingering bitterness, especially among Clinton supporters, whose candidate is running out of ways to win.

"Some women, like [Kathleen] Cowley, complain that Clinton has been disrespected and mistreated by the media and the political establishment. Many see Obama as equally condescending, dismissing Clinton's foreign policy role as first lady, pulling out her chair for her at debates and suggesting offhand during one debate that she was 'likable enough.'

" 'The sexist crap that comes out of people's mouths is really scary to me,' said Amilyn Lanning, 38, a Zionsville, Pa., voter who supported Clinton in last month's primary. 'There's a lot of the b-word being thrown about, even in jest by comedians. There's a lot of comments made about her pantsuits, and the way she dresses. There's a viciousness.' "

At HuffPost, Nina Burleigh has had enough:

"Whenever I start to think about the competing victimhood claims between blacks and women, I think about those guys. The fact is, for all the 'glass ceiling' and sexual harassment crap I endured, those guys started off a long ways behind where I was. Like others (including Erica Jong, under attack on this page right now for referring to Obama as a boy) I think Obama looks boyish. And by that I mean young - not 'bwah!' With his infectious grin and stick-out ears, he looks like a kid, and that's a good thing and a bad thing.

"Like many women, I feel the visceral draw to vote for a female. The nasty sexist crap Clinton has had to endure only makes me want to support her, even though I don't even like her, and I don't think she's a good leader. She doesn't have that warm, follow-me, sun-god quality that leaders in a democracy must have. In politics personality does matter, and it doesn't matter how many disastrous frat boys we elect, that'll never change . . . Calling female reporters 'sweetie' is not -- ahem -- a step in the right direction."

Columnist Marie Cocco is looking forward to the campaign's end:

"I will not miss seeing advertisements for T-shirts that bear the slogan 'Bros before Hos.' The shirts depict Barack Obama (the Bro) and Hillary Clinton (the Ho) and they are widely sold on the Internet.

"I will not miss walking past airport concessions selling the Hillary Nutcracker, a device in which a pantsuit-clad Clinton doll opens her legs to reveal stainless steel thighs that, well, bust nuts. I won't miss television and newspaper stories that make light of the novelty item.

"I won't miss episodes like the one in which the liberal radio personality Randi Rhodes called Clinton a 'big [expletive] whore' . . .

"I won't miss Citizens United Not Timid (no acronym, please), an anti-Clinton group founded by Republican guru Roger Stone . . .

"I won't miss political commentators (including National Public Radio political editor Ken Rudin and Andrew Sullivan, the columnist and blogger) who compare Clinton to the Glenn Close character in the movie 'Fatal Attraction.' . . . The airwaves will at last be free of comments that liken Clinton to a 'she-devil' (Chris Matthews on MSNBC, who helpfully supplied an on-screen mockup of Clinton sprouting horns). Or those who offer that she's 'looking like everyone's first wife standing outside a probate court' (Mike Barnicle, also on MSNBC)."