"They need to respect her gender but ignore it"

Anita Dunn, who served as President Obama’s communication’s director, agreed. She said the men in the Republican field (and, eventually, Mr. Obama, if Mrs. Bachmann becomes the nominee) have to figure out how to “attack a woman” without allowing the criticism to turn into what she called a gender slight.

“The challenge is to disagree without crossing into an area where you sound condescending, patronizing or nasty,” Ms. Dunn, a Democratic communications strategist said. “It’s about tone and it’s about respect.”…

“Do I think she will face questions that a man won’t face? Absolutely,” said Jen Bluestein, a spokeswoman for Emily’s List, a liberal group that advocates for the election of like-minded women. “Some of them will be infuriating and potentially hurtful to her. And some of them could be almost positive.”

The fallout from the incident with Mr. Wallace, for example, appears to have benefitted Mrs. Bachmann, who was widely seen as having graciously stood up for herself in response to an unfair question.