It isn't fate but fecklessness that has shoved Sarah Palin to the sidelines of national politics. The real tragedy is that she's taken a lot of other serious Republican women with her.

When I first started working in politics, as a junior aide on Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign, it never occurred to me that I would one day work in the White House. There were plenty of women among the volunteers who stuffed envelopes and walked precincts. But there were fewer and fewer on each successive level of influence and access.

Obama has become too dependent on formal speeches and set town halls. His idea of mixing it up is taking off his jacket.

If people believe you're on their side, they will trust your decisions.

On the day I started college in 1979, no woman had ever been on the United States Supreme Court or served as the Speaker of the House. None had been an astronaut or the solo anchor of a network evening news broadcast. Not one had been president of an Ivy League college or run a serious campaign for president.

No reporter is flying around in borrowed twin-engine airplanes.

Obama has made America cool again - and more than that, he's made his own brand arguably the most powerful the world has ever known.