The XX Factor: What women really think.

Yes They Can

For now, the whole discussion about Hillary supporters and which way they'll jump feels to me like a giant exercise in conjecture. There's Melinda's still-bitter friend, and PUMA (John Dickerson translation: Party Unity My Ass). And then there's this Friend of Hillary with her "Yes We Can" pin. We'll know something more when we see a good poll of women in Ohio or Virginia, I suppose (though to really answer the question, the poll would have to zero in on Democratic women who voted in the primaries). And of course, we won't really know how this plays out until November. But whatever former Clinton supporters actually decide, in whatever numbers, the idea that you don't vote for Obama because he's the popular guy who stole the election from the diligent gal makes sense only if you don't care what that guy, compared with his opponent, would do once in office. Maybe that's fine for student body president. But for the real deal? As the Friend of Hillary above says, "There is not a hair's breadth of difference between Hillary's position on the issues I care about most deeply and Obama's." Agree. Disagree. But don't change the subject, at least for more than 10 minutes, in Denver or in your living room.