Hillary’s “I’m your girl.”

Speaking before an overwhelmingly male audience of union members and supporters at a Democratic presidential nomination debate at Chicago’s Soldier’s Field, Sen. Hillary Clinton told the guys, “I’m your girl.”

The Democrats’ NY Times reported the next day:

Asked to respond [to criticism by fellow Democrats], she paused a moment, smiled and said, “I’m just taking it all in.”

“I’ve noticed in the last few days that a lot of the other campaigns have been using my name a lot,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I’m here because I think we need to change America; it’s not to get into fights with Democrats.”

“For 15 years, I have stood up against the right-wing machine and I’ve come out stronger, so if you want a winner who knows how to take them on, I’m your girl.”

The Times and just about all of MSM have downplayed girl Hillary's self-description or ignored it altogether.

We're not seeing anything like what we'd be seeing if a woman seeking the Republican presidential nomination had told a similiar audience, "I'm your girl."

There's been no “firestorm of criticism” from feminists, the Dixie Chicks, and Sen. Ted Kennedy. Nor have we read NYT and LAT editorials expressing "shock" and telling us "it's small comfort to learn that the candidate now says she didn't really mean to devalue women and set back the progress they've made during the last 100 years."

Instead we're getting things such as a post at a NY Times blog where Kathleen Q. Seelye, a Times reporter, offers "analysis" which begins:

Hillary Rodham Clinton is probably the only person on the planet who could get away with calling Hillary Rodham Clinton a girl.

This is, after all, someone who has labored assiduously to make herself acceptable as the first woman commander-in-chief. And what a gender-bending ride it has been. From not using her husband’s last name to using it. From not standing by her man to standing by her man. And now becoming the first woman with a real shot at breaking what she calls the ultimate glass ceiling — and using her gender to do it.

So you see, according to Seelye, there’s no “firestorm” when Hillary does it because -- well --she’s Hillary.

And I'd say because she's a Democrat although Seelye doesn't.

Seelye does a lot more by way of fluffing up for Clinton including:

At 59, Senator Clinton is at the vanguard of the baby boom, which has been arguing about feminism for most of her adult life. Is she or isn’t she? Or is she carving out a third way? Is a “girl” up to taking on the right-wing machine?

When she spoke last night, she was standing at Soldier Field. It was a nostalgic locale that prompted her to reminisce: “You know, my late father was a fanatic Bears fan and the idea that any of his children would be on the 10-yard line in Soldier Field is an extraordinary accomplishment.”

Maybe thinking of those days conjured up her girlhood. Can’t she let her hair down for a minute?

Well, let's leave girl Hillary and move on.

My biggest laugh so far on the whole thing was provided by columnist Richard Collins. Here's his tongue-in-cheek reaction:

Your "girl?"

First of all, that had to sting Senator Edwards. Hasn't his entire campaign been about being the Democrat's girl? Doesn't the candidate with the best hair win?

Edwards: Hair today and hair at the Democratic convention, but not there on the party's '08 ticket.

You can bet on that, boys and girls.