Could Maureen Dowd, by implication, be defending Hillary?

A top emailed column in the Times yesterday and today is Maureen Dowd's "Mincing Up Michelle." After her standard put downs of the Clintons, Dowd writes beginning in paragraph 3:

It’s good news for Obama that Hillary’s out of the race. But it’s also bad news. Now Republicans can turn their full attention to demonizing Michelle Obama. Mrs. Obama is the new, unwilling contestant in Round Two of the sulfurous national game of “Kill the witch.”

Poor Michelle!