I'd forgotten this, so I'm glad a reader reminded me:
You wrote this sentence about Hillary:
"Yes, she subsequently sought election in her own right to the Senate."
But no, she sought election to the Senate as Bill's wife, as the former first lady, as a carpet-bagger in NY state, where she'd never lived, and where the presumptive Democratic candidate before HRC big-footed her way into the race was a woman congressman named Nita Lowey, who had come up on her own, paid her dues in Congress, etc.
Now, Lowey may not be great shakes, I have no idea -- and Hillary has been a pretty good senator for NY (never mind the Iraq & Iran votes in that regard for a second, though I do mind them) -- but she did not get the job on her own cheek. She got it by way of the reflected star power of her husband and his name and Lowey didn't stand a chance against her, and the whole party apparatus fell happily in behind her, because who doesn't want clout and star power?
Maybe this was all smart politics for NY state, and nobody can say Hillary didn't do her homework -- she's virtually D'Amato like in her constituent services, I'm told. But if the issue is how much of a feminist is she -- well, maybe somebody should Ask Nita Lowey.