Even after yesterday's results, I still read in comments here the opinion, which strikes me as truly crazy, that Hillary cannot win in the general election.
This opinion ignores the huge, historic natural advantage she enjoys.
Is anyone here unaware of the fact that Hillary is a woman? It seems that some are (although, being a straight guy, I've always been quite mindful of it).
Consider: Just over half the voters in this country would vote for practically anybody the Democrats nominated. I think that was proven in 2004.
And just over half of the voters are women.
But it isn't the same half -- they're overlapping halves, and each of these halves has to be considered a strong potential constituency of Hillary's.
In fact, she would draw a lot of women to vote who might have stayed at home in a typical man-vs.-man contest -- even great numbers of those who have never voted before.
While Obama certainly would draw African-Americans who've never before participated, the percentage of potential voters who are black is a fraction of the percentage who are female.
Hillary's gender lends her an enormous, even crushing advantage if she wins the nomination.