I would like to deal with a little issue here that I have been hearing and reading a lot about lately — the insistence by some that women should vote for Hillary because she is a woman, and she may be our last chance to vote for a woman for President for a long time.

Let me say this loud and clear - as a woman, I don’t *have* to vote for anyone. I have every right, and responsibility in fact, to vote for who I think is the best candidate.

As a feminist, it is important to me to support women in positions of leadership, and those who are seeking to be in leadership. Having said that, I also feel pretty strongly that it does me no good to support a woman just because she is a woman, if her views and opinions don’t mesh with mine. I mean, even though they are women I doubt I would ever vote for Elizabeth Dole or Katherine Harris, since we have very different views on a lot of things.

Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL, wrote about this issue recently on Salon and did a much better job discussing the whole thing than I ever could.

This is my favorite:

The women’s movement is about free choice, self-determination and challenging a status quo that fails a lot of Americans, not just women. And it is not about going along. It’s about transcending, about having the freedom to follow one’s heart, about creating and pursuing new opportunities, and about the American dream being for all Americans.

Amen sister. And as for the argument that Mrs. Clinton is the last woman who will run for President for a long time, Ms. Michelman had this to say:

Matthews’ other Hardball, which also deserved more time than the red light gave me, was: “How can you pass, Kate, on the opportunity to support a woman for president when this may be the last chance for that to happen in your lifetime?”… It may be news to Chris Matthews, but great women have already arrived on the national stage — and they are here to stay. They are running state governments, big cities and major corporations. And every day in the armed forces they are defending our families and our country.

I am thrilled that the first election in my daughter’s lifetime includes a strong, viable woman running for President, and I look forward to the dozens of women who will run in years to come. When my daughter asks me about this election, I will tell her how grateful I am to the women’s movement for making it possible for Mrs. Clinton to run for President — and for me to vote for her opponent.