The XX Factor: What women really think.

Oprah and Linda

Oprah Winfrey declares victory for the cause: "Now look at this campaign: The two front-runners are a black man and a woman," she said at a California rally she headlined with Michelle Obama, Maria Shriver, and Caroline Kennedy. "What that says to me is we have won the struggle and we have the right to compete." The New York Times continues: "[I]nstead of seeing a painful choice, voters, Ms. Winfrey urged, should see a moment when they 'are free from the constraints of gender and race.' "

Meanwhile, in an essay loaded with great-looking data, Linda Hirshman points out that "if men are Republican enough, the Republicans need not care whether the women are less enthusiastic about them than men are." Which helps to explain the question I asked the other night. In discussing the effects of the question you were discussing, Dahlia and Rachael, about why women consume less political news, Hirshman points out that single women tend to be the least checked in—and so the most up for grabs.