It's not a new strategy, many of us remember the ruthless attacks that Hillary Clinton and Teresa Heinz-Kerry took while their husbands ran for the presidency.  The GOP has no problem in trying to tearing down women and attempting to expose vulnerabilities.

Hillary has answered that bell...As she proved back then and how she proved this primary season, Mrs. Clinton is no punching bag...she does the punching the now.

But how does Mrs. Obama and the campaign handled this?

The Repubs are trying to hang the "unpatriotic radical" albatross around her neck and therefore tying it to BO. Using her comment:

"For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country ... not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.  I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment."

In response Bill Kristol, a GOP mouthpiece, responded:

"She was an adult when we won the Cold War without firing a shot. She was an adult for the last 25 years of economic progress, social progress," he told FOX News. "I think the Democrats have to be careful ... they're running against the status quo ... You have to be careful not to let that slide into a kind of indictment of America. Because I don't think the American people think on the whole that the last 25 years of American history is a narrative of despair and nothing to be proud of."

Now they have turned to phase 2 and have begun attacking her race...

First their was Faux News and the "Obama's Baby Mama" slur and that was followed up by the "Angry Black Woman" stereotyping by Conservative pundit Cal Thomas.

SCOTT: All right, Cal, you look at that cover. It seems like pretty powerful people in the media have already made up their mind about Michelle Obama and that's before the general election got under way.

CAL THOMAS: In this campaign, we are being asked to accept three things simultaneously, the first woman with a credible chance of being president, the first African-American with the chance to being president and, whoever Michelle Obama is going to be styled, the angry black woman, first lady? This is an awful lot.

If she's going to be out there talking about policy, being a surrogate for her husband, then, within certain boundaries, she is open for criticism and critiques just like any other political figure.

<snip>

THOMAS: I want to pick up on something that Jane said about the angry black woman. Look at the image of angry black women on television. Politically you have Maxine Waters of California, liberal Democrat. She's always angry every time she gets on television. Cynthia McKinney, another angry black woman. And who are the black women you see on the local news at night in cities all over the country. They're usually angry about something. They've had a son who has been shot in a drive-by shooting. They are angry at Bush. So you don't really have a profile of non-angry black women.

When do we fire back?  Is it time yet?

I know Barack has said "I also think these folks should lay off my wife."  But I think we need to "Lay the Smacketh Down" more forcefully and much more direct.

It needs to come from someone who has been the target of it...
It needs to come from someone who has fought that fight...and won...
It needs to come from someone who, when they speak, people listen...
It needs to come from someone who has fire, conviction and truth in their voice and actions...

It needs to come from Hillary Clinton.