As we begin working towards the 2008 primaries, attention has focused almost exclusively on Barak Obama and Hillary Cklinton, the media darlings of the DNC. While Obama's star might not fade, I believe I can say without exception that Hillary Clinton will not win the Democratic Party's nomination in 2008.
The reason why can be found with a close scrutiny of most major news sources: Barak Obama is a member of an untouchable minority, Hillary Clinton is not.
Don't believe me? Walk into a comedy club on amateur night (assuming you're white). Tell a black joke. Now, tell a blonde joke or a ditzy woman joke. See which one gets the most boos. Unless you happen to be in a lesbian bar, or have an audience full of the Aryan brotherhood, it's almost certain to be the black joke. Because we've been so manipulated by "white guilt" that to even make an ethnic joke in that direction is taboo, and almost certainly carries with it the brand of being a racist.
As for misogynist, or male chauvinist pig, those labels don't carry the same sting. I can't think of many double murderers that got off because their accuser was blamed for being a misogynist. Or of child molestors that got a pass because the prosecution was chauvinistic. It may not be fair, it may not be right, but reality's reality: we will do more to protect our ethnic minorities than we will to protect females. Partly because we remain a pretty patriarchal society, despite attempts to push us in other directions. I'm not saying that's right or as it should be, I'm just saying that's the way things are.
When the battle gets heated, attempts to portray Hillary as a shrill witch won't meet with a whole lot of protest, except in an almost certain Gloria Allred appearance on the View. But try to portray Obama as anything but a patriot, and you risk offending a lot of blacks. Maybe not Jesse Jackson or AL Sharpton, but certainly many of the working class who are tired of a white male power structure in this country.
Hillary Clinton could be the best presidential candidate in the country (my opinion, she's actually somewhere between Howdy Doody and Brittney Spears on the list of abilities to be president...but I digress), but even if she were the perfect candidate, she is unlikely to overcome the burden of being representative of a "less favored" minority than her opponent.