Through the Hillaryglass

Lois Romano with a fascinating piece on the women at the top of the HRC campaign:

Once seen as a tight little sorority, today the group -- happily self-described as "Hillaryland"-- is at the center of a front-running presidential campaign. Never have so many women operated at such a high level in one campaign, working with a discipline and a loyalty and a legendary secrecy rarely seen at this level of American politics.

Older and tougher, they have formed a closely knit Praetorian Guard around Clinton that plots strategy, develops message and clamps down on leaks. But their extraordinary protectiveness also contributes to an ongoing perception of insularity around the candidate and the campaign.

The number of women in high levels of the campaign is unprecedented, of course, and therefore newsworthy. But, as with most gender-trend stories, it's fun to imagine how the piece would read if the sexes were switched. For instance, would this paragraph appear in almost any form in a profile, of, say, Rudy Giuliani?

Hillary, as they call her, has thrown them wedding showers, burped their babies, intervened in their medical care, and spent many an evening gossiping with them around the kitchen in stocking feet. Since polling has suggested voters perceive the senator as cool and aloof, her closest aides are eager to share such stories, as the campaign strives to humanize the candidate.

It's not enough to be a woman, you've got to be "human."