Clinton’s gender factor

Re “On defensive after debate, Clinton cites ‘all-boys club,’ ” Nov. 2

I was sorry to see Hillary Rodham Clinton reduced to “playing the gender card.” Was she being singled out as a woman by her male competitors? I heard no “two-faced” broadsides fired at her. No one called her a “tramp” for accepting financial backing from defense contractors. Nor did anyone suggest she was a “dumb blond” following President Bush’s enticements into war.

I did not hear anyone suggest that Clinton thought she could get away with this behavior just because she was a woman. Such remarks would, indeed, be sexist. Instead, she was being held to account by a single rather than a double standard. I am surprised that Clinton would want it any other way.

Gregg Heacock

Santa Monica

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When Clinton can’t argue the facts of her embarrassing flip-flops on the issue of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants in New York state, she now resorts to the canard that the six opponent male candidates are picking on her because she is a woman. Can you just see her as president, at an international summit, whining that Vladimir Putin is picking on her because she is a woman when he bests her in international relations? That is truly scary and unworthy of a real feminist competing on her merits, and it seems to be her only retort when cornered on facts and issues that she can’t successfully triangulate.

Joseph Bonino

Glendale

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Re “Testing Clinton,” editorial, Nov. 1

Your editorial is all wet. Tim Russert, the moderator of Tuesday’s Democratic presidential candidates’ debate, was bullying Clinton, and it was disgusting. Even Bill Richardson had too much after a while. That Barack Obama and John Edwards joined in was also disgusting. It is bad for the Democratic Party and bad for politics in general. As for what Clinton said about driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, why wouldn’t she defer to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has to deal with the problem?

Randell Hill

La Verne