She's the last person you'd expect to be singing the praises of Senator Hillary Clinton.

Arianna Huffington made the case on her website yesterday that Clinton's increasingly probable defeat is a historic win.

No other woman in US history has come so close to winning her party's nomination for president. And no other woman has had such a realistic chance of winning the presidency.

And she has done so in spite of celebrity endorsements and a fawning press favoring her opponent, Senator Barack Obama. And Clinton herself came into the race with her own baggage.

But from the beginning, Clinton has dealt with biases we assume died a quiet death in the 70's. While many people were concerned that Obama would face racist attitudes - and no doubt there have been some - it hasn't elevated to the level of blatant sexism and gender-bias that Clinton has endured.

It's almost as if Obama has been treated with a kind of hypersensitivity, while the masses clod right over the woman candidate. First there were questions about whether she was a tough enough to be the commander in chief. Then came the "cackle digs." They were followed by awe as we learned that cold, emotionless Hillary has feelings. Soon after she showed a hint of emotion, she was back to being weak and hysterical. And around and around it has gone.

The language of many voters and pundits has been veiled and coded, but it has still revealed a deep-seated belief that women are somehow less than men; that women can't be relied on in times of stress, that women are silly and superficial things, and that they're really designed to be subservient.

Consider the women columnists at the New York Times. Their relentless criticisms of Clinton have turned into a witches' brew of pointless nastiness. And the blogs, including many of the thousands who responded to Huffington, were laced with misogynistic overtones. If Obama loses to Senator John McCain, you can be sure they will assign the blame to Clinton - not to Obama's lack of experience.

The mantra now is that the party will eventually unify behind Obama. Maybe, but a lot of women, particularly older working women who know what it means to be paid less than a man for doing the same job, are angry. And rightly so.

Clinton's defeat is probable. But she has kicked (some will say clawed) her way into our consciousness as a strong, woman warrior of the type we still seem too willing to dismiss.