I was reading Gingrich for that matter). Santorum is easily as wacky as Bachmann, and I think probably a less genuine person. Regardless of whether Bachmann was mistreated (and I think the author is persuasive that she was), I don’t think there is any question that it would be harder for a female to seek office. So what is it going to take to get a serious run out of a female presidential candidate?

I fear that the reason that Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann might get worse treatment is that a successful female candidate is going to need a “hook.” Even worse it seems like the hooks are going to have to be extremity. The thinking seems to be: If I wanted a middle of the road candidate with mainstream views, there are plenty of boring men I can vote for. If you want my attention as a female, you’re going to have to be out in the weeds somewhere. The implication is of course that by default we’d rather vote for a man and you’re going to need something special to move us from that position.

As an aside, I do subscribe to the notion that Santorum’s lack of qualifications as a candidate played to his advantage in Iowa. He was so bad that he didn’t get the spotlight until it was too late for the public to realize how unappealing of a candidate he was. Those desperate to vote for someone who wasn’t Romney jumped on the bus without checking it out too closely. In a week they may very well regret that decision, but for the moment they just wanted to vote for someone who wasn’t Romney.

We can only hope that a viable female candidate will get her due in a manner similar to Barack Obama –Charisma and gravitas. I only hope that she uses it a little more judiciously if she gets there.