The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

"Beat the Bitch" and Hillary Dementia Syndrome

Courtesy of Talking Points Memo, a clip of John McCain warmly responding to the apparently self-evident campaign question, "How do we beat the bitch?" with laughter, hearty affirmation ("excellent question") and the polling numbers about his lead over Hillary. All rather sick-making but it's worth pointing out—as several bloggers have not—that his questioner here was a woman.

This raises a good point that Melinda flicked at last week: MAN do people hate Hillary Clinton. You mentioned in your post her "high, deep and not-going-anywhere negatives," and I agree. Folks who think this way are not gonna wake up come election day and say "Hey, I was wrong, I have been out-of-my-mind-demented-crazy-ass-insane with loathing for this woman for 15 years but today I changed my mind!" I think I part company with you, though, over the notion that all this loathing has "zero" to do with her gender. You can't separate the claim that she's a "phony" from the contention that she's a "bitch." That's she's somehow an unnatural woman has always been at the core of Hillary Dementia, hasn't it? It was at the core of Eleanor Roosevelt Psychopathy as well.