I had to hunt to find the quote that the Drudge Report cites, the one where Elizabeth Edwards says that Hillary Clinton is “behaving like a man.” I had to hunt because it doesn’t exist. Here’s the relevant passage, the misquoted part in bold:
Look, I’m sympathetic, because when I worked as a lawyer, I was the only woman in these rooms, too, and you want to reassure them you’re as good as a man. And sometimes you feel you have to behave as a man and not talk about women’s issues. I’m sympathetic — she wants to be commander in chief. But she’s just not as vocal a women’s advocate as I want to see. John is. And then she says, or maybe her supporters say, “Support me because I’m a woman,” and I want to say to her, “Well, then support me because I’m a woman.” The question is not so much how she campaigns — that’s theater. The question is, what does her campaign tell you about how she’ll govern? And I’m not convinced she’d be as good an advocate for women.
If anything, Elizabeth refers to herself as having once felt pressure to “behave as a man.” No wonder she doesn’t have a problem with gay marriage!
There’s obviously more to be said here; in fact, it’s amazing the degree to which HRC’s candidacy has not prompted more discussion about the real-life experiences of successful women and how they do and don’t match up with Hillary’s. I mean, yes, we talk a lot about how Hillary’s gender will play out for her as a candidate, but we don’t talk a lot about how she’s had to tailor her behaviors because she’s a women. And I actually think EE is being sympathetic here, if also brutally frank. Hillary’s campaign has been almost gender neutral, by EE’s judgment, and thus she assumes Hillary’s administration would be, too. I’m not convinced that John Edwards has been any more vocal than Hillary on women’s issues, however.
But, seriously, Drudge: try harder.
UPDATE: Also? “Wife Edwards”? Bee-jeeb-us why not just “The Little Woman”? “Ball-and-Chain Edwards”? Oh, I know: “Harpy Shrew Edwards!”