Dana Goldstein

The moderator tonight is Brian Williams, and he began a few minutes ago by cutting right to the chase, asking Barack Obama to distinguish between himself and Hillary Clinton. Obama responded somewhat bumpily, painting himself as the underdog in a complicated Rocky metaphor that went, um, right over my head. Hillary responds: “The Republicans must […]

Will Obama attack Hillary? Will the absence of Mike Gravel be a relief, or will we all get bored? What will Dennis Kucinich be wearing? To find out answers to all of these pressing questions — and more substantive stuff, too! — come by TAPPED tonight at 9 p.m. EST. A few of us will […]

In 2004, 41 percent of donors to the John Kerry campaign were women, compared to 30 percent of Bush donors. But women are donating to Democrats at the highest rate ever in anticipation of the 2008 election. As the Dallas Morning News reports: Of contributions over $200, half of the donors to Mrs. Clinton and […]

Ezra points to a Dani Rodrik post lauding the news that worldwide, the gap between men’s and women’s educational achievement and workforce participation is closing, as it has in the United States. Rodrik writes: This signals coming changes in the role of women in the family, the economy and in marriage. … More couples will […]

If you thought it was crazy when Hugo Chavez announced he wanted to limit legal Venezuelan names to a list of 100, strictly divided by gender, you’ll be interested to know he’s not alone: The Finnish government also maintains a list of legal names from which parents must choose, with no overlap between male and […]

That’s the “d’oh!” message New Jersey gay couples are sending lawmakers on the one-year anniversary of civil unions in the state. Hundreds of people reported difficulty in obtaining for their partners shared benefits as basic as health insurance. The New York Times reports: Jodi Weiner, an electrician from Montclair, said that when she tried to […]

Yesterday George Will devoted his column to explaining to pro-choice Californians why they should vote for Rudy Giuliani. He concedes the so-called “pro-choice” Giuliani won’t actually govern in the name of reproductive rights — that he’ll appoint anti-choice justices to the Supreme Court who may very well overturn Roe. But Californians shouldn’t be concerned, Will […]

It’s great fun to taunt social conservatives with the fact that the Republican front-runner is “pro-choice” and “supports abortion rights.” But we’re getting to the point where claiming so much is just, well, not factual. “Pro-choice” politicians don’t “reassure” Sam Brownback that they’ll appoint “strict constructionist” justices to the Supreme Court following the model of […]

I know I was up in arms yesterday over the continuous silly worrying about Hillary Clinton being “too feminine” or “too Mommy-like” to be a competitive nominee. Indeed, I don’t think “femininity” will be a problem for Clinton, who voters know is more hawkish that the other leading Democrats on national security. But that doesn’t […]