The Grandchildren Card

This article examines Hillary's recent photo-ops with small children, playing up her softer side.

This kind of publicity/image thing is necessary, I guess, but it risks downplaying her ability to be a strong leader. For example, superficial maybe but worth mentioning is how Nancy Pelosi was described in a Washington Post article:

After Nancy Pelosi's historic election as Speaker of the House, the Washington Post described her as a "grandmother of five."

The Post didn't refer to her as a "20-year veteran of Congress," which probably had more to do with her election.

Meanwhile, the Post described Harry Reid, the new Senate leader, as the "son of a hard-rock miner" with no mention of Reid's 16 grandchildren.

I don't know that there was ever a time that real parenting, and nurturing, was considered weak. But somehow, the opinion, by all its omissions, implied just that.

As Hillary's campaign moves along over the next two years, it will interesting to see how the news reports her political moves and PR-planned photo opportunities and how she is portrayed her in comparison to her running mates.