Hillary and Feminists

What's up with all the discussion about Senator Hillary Clinton and whether or not she is being supported by feminists, in her bid for the White House? Who is asking this question, and why?

Who would benefit by planting doubt that women, and feminists in particular, support Hillary?

It's no secret that more women than men register to vote, and turn out for primary and general elections. It's no secret that the 2008 presidential election is the Democrats to lose. It's no secret that the Republicans are imploding. So who is behind all the gossip about whether or not feminists will support Hillary?

The funny thing about this story is that the three largest feminist organizations have all announced their support for Hillary -- the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority and Emily's List. Those three groups alone have the ability to turn out hundreds of thousands of campaign workers and contributors.

The only names mentioned as feminists who might not be supporting Hillary are Jane Fonda and Susan Faludi. While I like and admire both of these women, I have never heard their names mentioned as spokespeople for the "feminist movement." The closest of the two might be Faludi, whose book "Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women" articulated a lot of the concerns women had felt for a long time.

A recent rumor circulating is that working class women support Hillary, but women with college educations -- or who identify as feminists -- don't. How is this being supported? Where is the evidence?

In the final analysis the fact remains that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is very qualified to be president. She understands domestic and foreign policy, she has already been part of a team that did something Republicans have been unable to do for decades -- balance the budget and strengthen the middle class. She will be great on issues of importance to women. And I do think she has the ability to move us toward energy independence, and get our troops out of Iraq.

I'm ready to make history with Hillary.