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The Iron LadiesThe New Yorker on Hillary Clinton, Newsweek on Margaret Thatcher, and the New Republic on Michelle Obama.

By Morgan Smith
Posted Tuesday, March 11, 2008, at 2:36 PM ET
The New Yorker

The New Yorker, March 17
After Hillary Clinton's marginal victories in Ohio and Texas, Ryan Lizza visits her campaign as it struggles under the light of the media's death watch. Despite calls to drop out and a low delegate count, Clinton continues to battle, even if she must argue a case against Obama that "is not so very different" from that of the Republicans. A protracted contest with Clinton could help prepare Obama for the general election, and "no one is entitled to a Presidential nomination." … An article examines a recently uncovered photo album of operations at Auschwitz that reveals the existence of a retreat called Solahutte next to the forced labor and death camp.  Photos in the album show SS officers there relaxing with young women and singing in a group with an accordion player. A source says: "That S.S. officers went on vacation didn't take us by surprise. What surprised us was that Auschwitz wasn't only a place to imprison men and women and kill Europeans Jews; it was also a place to have fun." 

Newsweek

Newsweek, March 17
Tina Brown's dramatic cover story describes Hillary Clinton's appeal to baby boomer women, "who possess all the management skills that come from raising families while holding down demanding jobs, women who have experience, enterprise and, among the empty nesters, a little financial independence, yet still find themselves steadfastly dissed and ignored." According to the piece, the candidate doesn't attract their twentysomething daughters, who are embarrassed by "[t]he very scar tissue that older women see as proof of her determination, "but for the sake of these "invisible women" Clinton "should not give up the fight."… A piece looks back to the first "Iron Lady," former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and compares her to Hillary Clinton: "[A]cross the globe, women entering positions of political leadership have learned that playing to stereotypes can endear them to voters at critical junctures in campaigns, especially when it is their likability, and not their competency, that is in question."

New Republic

New Republic, March 26
A fresh Michelle Obama profile concentrates on the "edgy" first lady hopeful's traditional core. Though her tendency to knock her husband and tell tales of domestic difficulties on the campaign trial "may be a departure for political wives," the piece notes, "for wives in general, it is anything but new." The familiarity of the role, though struck by a black, "overeducated lawyer," resonates with voters—in a way that a previous Democratic first lady, also accomplished in her own right and who "seemed to scorn such warm-and-fuzzy nonsense," didn't. … A piece reviews a contentious episode between Barack Obama and John McCain over ethics reform legislation in the Senate, providing a glimpse of what an Obama-McCain showdown might look like in the general election. Both tout their efforts at bipartisanship and "reform bonafides," but "each sees the other as a posturing phony."

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair, March 2008
The cover story, accompanied by an Annie Leibovitz photo spread, refutes Slate contributor Christopher Hitchens' January 2007 Vanity Fair article, in which he argued that women have no sense of humor. Cable television has ushered in a new generation of comediennes who write their own material, aren't afraid to be good-looking, and don't fit between the "two poles of acceptable female humor: feline self-derision or macho-feminist ferocity."  … A piece investigates the Bush administration's involvement in Palestine after Hamas won control there in 2006. It alleges the United States sponsored a covert Fatah militia that tortured and assassinated opponents in the hopes of squashing Hamas' power in a civil war. Instead, it sparked the group's bloody June 2007 takeover of Gaza. … An entertaining feature explores Texas moneyman Jack R. Worthington Jr.'s claims that he is the illegitimate son of JFK and delves into the journalistic "addiction to the scoop."

Weekly Standard

Weekly Standard, March 17
In a cover package on McCain, a piece by Fred Barnes looks at the Republican nominee's potential running mates and recommends Mitt Romney, who has "the best ratio of virtues to drawbacks." The former Massachusetts governor could court the social conservatives unswayed by McCain and "shore up [the candidate's] admitted weakness on economic issues" with his business know-how. The hitch? McCain's not a fan of him. … An article on Hillary Clinton's campaign (headlined, of course, "The Fat Lady Hasn't Sung") explains how the New York senator could still win the Democratic nomination.  Puerto Rico, a region dominated by Hispanics and Catholics who favor Clinton, has 55 unclaimed delegates. Florida and Michigan, where Clinton won in unofficial elections, could be re-vested with their delegates if the race is still close. And John Edwards' delegates in Iowa have to be reassigned.

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Morgan Smith is a former Slate intern.
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