Senator Clinton at the EMILYs List Gala

I understand that Senator Clinton is one of the more polarizing figures in American politics. Some of that is a result of her campaign and the advice given her by Mark Penn and others. But much of that stems from the culture wars of the 1990s and the difficulty that the then “candidate spouse” had in finding her voice and framing her story. The dominant media narrative of her demanded that she choose between being a supportive wife staying at home and baking cookies and “standing by her man” or an ambitious (their word) career woman. Her inability to transcend this false dichotomy crippled her throughout her terms in the White House and ultimately in this election. But to the women (largely, but not exclusively) in the crowd here, there is no such apparent contradiction between those twin roles.

Senator Clinton praised Michelle Obama even cracking that she would be there to answer the phone in the White House “if the president isn’t exactly behind us”. She didn’t add whether that call might occur at 3 a.m. It’s obvious, I know, but Michelle Obama’s speech last night was a masterful address made possible by Senator Clinton’s experience as first lady.

The McCain campaign has been using Senator Clinton’s words in the primary, disingenuously praising her, while trying to mobilize her supporters in a cynical effort to undercut Senator Obama. She just sent a crushing broadside attack to that strategy. We’ll see if she repeats that tonight. The Obama campaign’s rapid response team is getting ads cut in response to the McCain attacks. I would expect to see an Obama ad (whether it be an internet ad or paid TV one) designed to counter the “here’s what Hillary has to say about Obama” with a “and here’s what she says about John McCain”.