As a woman who graduated from college in the '50s, I would not compare my status to that of African-Americans during slavery or Jim Crow. But I do bristle a bit when Michelle Obama or Barack, for that matter, or Inquisitor make light of the limitations on women of that era. Michelle Obama was able to graduate from Princeton, a university which in the '50s did not accept women into a graduate program that I was eminently qualified to enter. As a sought after minority Michelle was recruited to attend a school where my gender disqualified me. My male advisors consoled me by recommending the fine program at Johns Hopkins which was coed. But who got the best jobs after grad school?—the Princeton grad because it was considered the top program.

To get some insights into the historical struggle for women's sufferage, I recommend the very readable "Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment" by Eleanor Clift. It also offers some history about the ties between the abolitionist movement and the women's suffrage movement. All people have an equal claim to civil rights and to their political opinions. It seems easy for Inquisitor to accept the idea that its OK for Aftrican-Americans to support Senator Obama because of their racial kinship based on their past suffering. Why should women be denied the opportunity to consider gender kinship if they wish? Personally, I've made my decision by looking at programs and positions, rather than oratory and inspiration. As a local public official I've served with and worked with officials who were all charisma, and no substance. Give me substance and knowledge and experience, rather than slogans, if you want my vote.