The Washington Post reports that Hillary Clinton is "making gender a focus of her presidential bid" in 2016, mostly by accusing Bernie Sanders of being a sexist simpleton. And like basically every media outlet to report on the Clinton campaign's "emphasis on gender," the Post makes sure to point out that this represents a huge change compared to Hillary's first (failed) run for president [emphasis added]:
The episode provides one of the clearest examples of how the Democratic front-runner — who largely avoided such issues in her previous presidential run — plans to make gender and her experiences in the male-dominated realm of national politics a centerpiece of her 2016 bid. But the focus on the Sanders remark, which can easily be taken as harmless or ham-fisted at worst, raises the risk that Clinton may come off as thin-skinned or too politically correct.
Is this true that she "largely avoided" the gender issue in 2008? It's certainly the case that she didn't make it the central focus of her campaign, as she seems to be doing now. But she did talk about gender and the "historic nature" of her candidacy so much that even the New York Times editorial board, which endorsed Hillary in 2008, thought she was overdoing it to the point of tarnishing her campaign [emphasis added]:
By choosing Mrs. Clinton, we are not denying Mr. Obama’s appeal or his gifts. The idea of the first African-American nominee of a major party also is exhilarating, and so is the prospect of the first woman nominee. "Firstness" is not a reason to choose. The times that false choice has been raised, more often by Mrs. Clinton, have tarnished the campaign.
This passage is especially noteworthy in light of more recent New York Times headlines, such as this one in January 2015: "Clinton ’16 Would Give Gender More of a Role Than Clinton ’08 Did." Surprisingly, the editorial board has yet to express its disappointment at Clinton's decision to double down on this obnoxious strategy.
There are plenty of examples of Hillary raising the "firstness" issue during the Democratic primary in 2008. During an NBC News debate in January 2008, she responded to a question about Martin Luther King, Jr. by noting that she is "a woman who is also a beneficiary of the civil rights movement."
During a CNN debate two weeks later, Clinton side-stepped a question about the late Senator Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama, before arguing that "having the first woman president would be a huge change for America and the world."
During the subsequent debate, also hosted by NBC News, Hillary used her closing statement to emphasize her gender:
You know, obviously I am thrilled to be running, to be the first woman president, which I think would be a sea change in our country and around the world, and would give enormous … you know, enormous hope and, you know, a real challenge to the way things have been done, and who gets to do them, and what the rules are.
Whatever. The media is probably right. Why shouldn't we trust them?