Feminine touch

Politics | A campaign stop in battleground South Carolina shows Hillary Clinton grappling with how to play the ‘woman card’—and how not to play it | Jamie Dean

COLUMBIA, S.C.— During her husband's first presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton infamously proclaimed that she pursued a career instead of staying home and baking cookies. Late last month, during the first Southern stop in her own presidential campaign, the New York senator reminisced about her childhood and quoted lyrics to a Girl Scout song.

What a difference a presidential bid makes.

Clinton's early campaign swing through South Carolina on Feb. 19 revealed that the senator is determined to do two things: gain early traction with key voters, and finesse thorny issues like faith, war, and a woman in the White House.

The morning started early on Presidents Day for thousands in Columbia, S.C., who lined up in below-freezing temperatures outside the Allen University gymnasium for a seat at Clinton's town-hall-style event. But Clinton wasn't the first Democratic presidential hopeful to visit South Carolina over the holiday weekend.