I’m getting very, very tired of seeing lists of potential democratic presidential candidates for 2008 that start with “Hillary” and then move on to “Biden,” “Warner,” and “Feingold.” When writing about these candidates, please engage in a little bit of consistency and refer to them all by either first names or last names. Lists such as the one above betray an unconscious sexism — these details matter matter.

And here’s another hint: if you’re going to refer to the first person on that list by last name, call her Rodham Clinton. I’ve complained in the past about the changes in how she has used her name since her marriage (first Rodham, then Rodham Clinton, then Clinton, now back to Rodham Clinton) but I think it is important to call anyone — but particularly a married woman — by whatever name she chooses, even if that name changes with the political winds.