NY NOW

Today's event at American University was--if nothing else--extraordinary political theater, and a reminder that political culture can move beyond the "talking points" approach pioneered by James Carville and Paul Begala and expanded upon by Karl Rove.

The reaction from the New York branch of the National Organization of Women?

"Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few . . . And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not 'this' one)."

After Hillary Clinton lost Iowa, the same group charged that press criticism of the New York senator showed that"gang raping of women is commonplace in our culture both physically and metaphorically," and accused John Kerry and John Edwards of contributing to"the psychological 'gang banging' of women and girls."

New York is second only to California in importance for the Democratic Party. NOW purports to be a leading feminist organization. And this is the sort of rhetoric it produces?