Hillary: I'm not a socialist chick like that French loser!

The Hildebeast is in damage control mode. From the Washington comPost:

There was a time when advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) looked abroad for proof that women can get elected to a top leadership role in the modern world: Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister; Angela Merkel, the German chancellor; and Michelle Bachelet, the president of Chile.

But as presidential candidate Ségolène Royal was defeated by a conservative man who had been France's chief law enforcement officer, the Clinton campaign was quick to dismiss comparisons between their candidate and her Socialist counterpart across the Atlantic. "Other than the fact that they are both women, they don't have much in common," said Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications director.

Yeah, aside from that whole recurring "taking your stuff for the common good" thing, they're totally different, huh? Continuing:

Clinton advisers said that, if anything, Royal proved that a woman must run with a focus on her credentials. Clinton allies saw the race as evidence that the New York senator is running the right kind of campaign, a substantive one -- even if it means she is sometimes accused of lacking charisma.

"Sometimes"? She's about as charismatic as a bullfrog with gonorrhea.

Exit question: Do you think Shrillary's handlers would be downplaying similarities if Segolene had won, crowing that Segolene's win is good news for Her Highness as proof that voters aren't afraid to support a "strong" woman as leader?