The XX Factor: What women really think.

Chelsea Speaks Up, in a Whisper

I don't guess I have ever seen The View—even if we are a sort of online homage to their caffeinated trailblazing. (Only, who is our Elisabeth?) But on yesterday's show, Whoopi and Joy and Sherri went where no Washington reporter has ever dared to tread; they made fun of Chelsea Clinton.

On Monday, co-host Joy Behar said on the air that she still hadn't decided on a presidential candidate. So the next day, after casting her ballot, Behar returns home, picks up her ringing phone and hears the breathy voice of Bill and Hillary's 27-year-old daughter, who was belatedly making a pitch on her mom's behalf. "At first, I thought it was a crank,'' Behar said. Because who knew Chelsea made campaign calls? (Or—until Emily B brought it to our attention—fired off campaign e-mails? And btw, the semi-grammatical, loosely informed message from Chelsea does not seem to have been a hoax, as Emily Y hoped.) Turns out, Chelsea also called The View's Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd on Tuesday, and they all re-enacted the calls on yesterday's show, cracking up as they imitated her little-girl voice: "I was like, "Talk up! I can't hear you!'' Shepherd said.

Is this why Chelsea is usually silent? Because she sounds like Marilyn Monroe?  Her parents have always been ultra-protective of her, to the point that the first year they were in the White House, they didn't even include her in the family Christmas card. Which was understandable when she was 12, but is increasingly odd now that she's grown; remember her father's insistence, just a few months back, that a New York restaurant take down a photo of Chelsea they'd had hanging on the wall alongside shots of other famous folks who had eaten there?

Maybe now, in any case, the Garbo of the political world is cutting loose at last; hard as it is to believe, she apparently addressed a crowd for the first time in her life on Jan. 29, at the University of Utah: "I'm feeling a little bit intimidated about that,'' she told the audience. She also filled in for her mom at the University of Delaware on Monday. And now that she's dialing for votes, who will hear from her next? Katie Couric? Kelly Ripa? Or if we're really lucky, Maureen Dowd? As you know, Miss Clinton, the D.C./Maryland/Virginia primary is next Tuesday, and some of us are on the fence, too! (Uh-oh, I think I just figured out who our Elisabeth is. Operators will not be standing by.)