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Note to Andrew Sullivan: Hillary Clinton's feminism -- or lack of it -- has absolutely nothing to do with her husband, their marriage, or their political partnership. Feminism is not about passing judgment on women's choices about how to deal with infidelity in marriage -- especially when the woman in question is a public figure whose true personal life we can only guess at. Sullivan writes:
His wife wants to use him as a weapon in the campaign, but still insist that it is she who is running, and not him. She wants to appeal to a return to his policies, but still insists that she does not represent a third term for the 42d president. She wants him on her resume until it's not convenient. Then she pretends to be a feminist. ... She wants credit for being a feminist, while still running in part on her husband's record - both claiming credit for the good parts and disowning the bad parts. They will keep playing this game - arguing every which way, passing the buck from one to the other, never accepting responsibility, for as long as it gets them past the latest news cycle. ... Another term of the two of them could well lead to the same kind of sexual scandals that distracted and near-paralyzed affairs of state in the 1990s.Since time immemorial, male politicians have used their wives to promote a certain image of themselves (see Edwards, John and Elizabeth). John's recent Iowa TV ad revolves around Elizabeth's breast cancer. And the wives have constantly been used as a dodge when it comes to gay rights. Sullivan's beloved Barack Obama said in a debate that he hadn't talked to his children about same-sex marriage, but "my wife has." When John Edwards wanted to appeal to both swing voters and the Democratic left, he noted that he is personally opposed to gay marriage because of his religious beliefs, but Elizabeth supports marriage equality and often tries to win him over to her position.
