There appears to be some consensus that Clinton is attempting to use her gender to score points/fundraise and make it difficult for her opponents to attack her. kos points us this morning to this by Obama:

“I am assuming and I hope that Sen. Clinton wants to be treated like everybody else. And I think that that’s why she’s running for President.

“When we had a debate back in Iowa awhile back, we spent I think the first 15 minutes of the debate hitting me on various foreign policy issues. And I didn’t come out and say: ‘Look, I’m being hit on because I look different from the rest of the folks on the stage’. I assumed it was because there were real policy differences there [...]

“I don’t think that people doubt that Senator Clinton is tough. She’s used to playing in national politics. And in fact that is one of the things that she has suggested is why she should be elected — because she’s been playing in this rough-and-tumble stage.

“So it doesn’t make sense for her, after having run that way for eight months, the first time that people start challenging her point of view, that suddenly she backs off and says: ‘Don’t pick on me. That is not obviously how we would expect her to operate if she were President.”

He has a point. Meanwhile, this is such a Joe Trippi creation from the Edwards campaign. You don’t even know it is an Edwards piece until the small paid for box at the end. It is a very good video and is getting wide play. I expect that it will make the jump to TV. Well worth the campaign’s time.