Hillary Clinton playing the gender card could very well work to her favor come election time. At least, that's what some Republicans are worried about.

It can be recalled that about a week ago, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, openly criticized Clinton for acknowledging that she is a woman.

"I don't think arguing 'vote for me because I'm a woman' is enough," The Associated Press quoted the senator as saying.

The senator then used last year's election, where he defeated Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes, as an example. "The gender card alone is not enough," he further said.

The Republicans have not made their condescension of identity politics secret, and playing to women is no exception, according to Time. However, McConnell risks misplaying his hand with this comparison simply because Grimes' relatively thin resume doesn't fare much to Clinton's decades-old record of championing women's issues.

"It's just not true that she doesn't have a record or that she's running simply to be the first female president," Jennifer Lawless, director of American University's Women & Politics Institute, said. "McConnell's statement seems belittling and sexist."

McConnell's attack could very well open the door for Clinton to play up her strengths and remind voters of the GOP record on various women's issues like rape, equal pay and contraception. Incidentally, Clinton is the front-runner for the Democrats' presidential campaign for 2016.

Hillary Clinton supposedly playing the gender card is not the only issue at hand. Many Republicans are also seizing the opportunity to attack Clinton on her so-called use of her personal email to transmit classified information while she was secretary of state.

However, while some lash out on Clinton, other Republicans are skittish. This might be because, as the New York Times pointed out, the Republicans face the challenge of not just dealing with Clinton but attracting the support of her most loyal constituency, women.

"If Republicans attack her too stridently, it will make her into a victim because it will be seen as old white guys attacking a woman, not necessarily Secretary Clinton," said Larry McCarthy, a Republican strategist known for his attack ads.

It remains to be seen which direction this apparent spat is headed towards, but one thing's certain. Hillary Clinton using the gender card in her campaign is definitely picking up steam.