NEW YORK: Call it the Clinton contradiction.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a political trailblazer, pursuing the precedent-setting achievement of becoming the first female candidate to win the presidency. How, then, did she also become the candidate of the Democratic Party establishment — a title historically attached to less-than-scintillating contenders like John Kerry, Al Gore and Walter Mondale?
It's a curious paradox for Clinton, a presidential hopeful in the 2008 election who calls herself a feminist and touts her experience as a woman and a "mom." But her long career in Washington, army of political consultants and marriage to a former president have all cast her as a political insider rather than a pioneer.
And then there is the Obama factor. With his newcomer's appeal and quest to be the first black president, the Illinois senator has managed to dilute the significance of Clinton's history-making run.
Obama's grassroots allure was manifest this week, when the candidates disclosed their first quarter fundraising totals.
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