What is tough?

MoDowd has a column today where she says that it's up to Obama to get tough on Hillary in order to win. She got tough on him in Ohio and appealed to older women, the ones who hold the house together while evidently men lose it. I had a conversation with one of these women that left me scratching my head and wondering, what is tough?

Is tough saying anything that comes to mind about your opponent, calling him/her the worst names at your disposal? Wolfson called Obama Ken Starr (Hillary agreed) while Samantha Power called her a monster. Pretty much equivalent epithets. Tough must be tearing him down, putting him in third place behind Hillary and McCain and then with the other hand saying that a Hillary-Obama ticket would be unstoppable.

Tough. Be tough. Take what they say, no matter how outrageous and bounce back. Is it truly a test for a future President? Life has tested Barack Obama. He wasn't born to privilege. He didn't have all this success handed to him. Organizing and leading people in Chicago was tough. Chicago politics is tough. Does he change his delivery now that she and McCain have attacked him? Or does he continue with Hope? I'm not sure.

Hope has got him here. The delegate lead. The popular vote lead has kept him here.

In the supermarket yesterday I had a conversation with a lady in her early 40's, a mom, hispanic. After a pleasant chat about the junk food her older children insist on eating she saw the Rolling Stone I was purchasing. She bristled at the cover, an ethereal picture of Barack Obama. She said he wasn't experienced. I mentioned he had years in the state senate. She said basically that he was green behind the ears. I begged to differ. She said I only disagree because I'm "a man."
I said Obama has the delegate lead. She replied that he only has the delegate lead because, "The system is rigged" against Hillary.
What?
By this time the checker was running my dental floss and magaizine through the scanner and the lady had turned away because her kids had caught up with her.
So, is that what the Hillary people are telling themselves? The system they built for Hillary to walk away with the nomination on February 5th is now a rigged system against her?

Is tough calling bullshit on this? Because I think it's time.