Ted Kennedy and the Gap

By GAIL COLLINS
New York Times

Great job, voters. Huge turnout, good vibes and everything’s still up in the air. We could be working on these presidential nominations for months. Maybe all the way to the conventions! At last, an opportunity to have really serious discussions about the makeup of the credentials committee.

Really, it’s been a surprise a minute. In Massachusetts, every Democratic alpha male in the state, including the governor and two U.S. senators, endorsed Barack Obama. Democratic women then stampeded to the polls in a great show of enthusiasm for ignoring their advice.

Ted Kennedy was the particular sore point. Some people looked at Kennedy’s passing of the J.F.K. torch and felt their spines tingle. A lot of women saw him dumping his old ally, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, for the newer, shinier, male model of a presidential candidate and felt their spines stiffen.

“I don’t think I understand it myself, other than I’m angry with them,” said Barbara Wilson, a retired teacher from Quincy, Mass. “Piling on? Yes, I definitely think it was. The old boys’ club.”

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