He’s a city boy and I’m a farm girl. I’m Protestant and he’s Jewish. I’m addicted to Project Runway and he doesn’t get it!

Even with those differences, our “mixed” marriage is strong. But I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when it turned out that we had voted for different candidates in our state’s presidential primary.

I voted for Hillary, but he voted for Obama. To say I had Barack Shock would be an understatement.

You see, for as long as we’ve been together, for whatever differences we’ve had, we’ve always been on the same page politically. There has never been an electoral disagreement in our house — until now. (At least he didn’t vote outside the party — now that WOULD have been grounds for divorce!)

Apparently, we’re not the only ones working on this issue in 2008. And someone is trying to cash in on this phenomenon.

A press release that popped into my E-mail this week was titled: Can Democrats and Republicans Find True Love That Lasts (With Each Other)?: America’s Love Doctor Gives Relationship Advice to Political Junkies in Love - Just in Time for the Elections.

Now, I have no problem with couples therapy, but who knew you could see a therapist for political wanderings?

Somehow James Carville and Mary Matalin make extreme political leanings work in their marriage, so I’m not worried that Mr. PunditMom and I will get past this little political bump in the road. Which I guess is bad news for America’s Love Doctor. I’m don’t think we really need her conflict management tools and her Three C’s of Love to handle this difference of opinion.

But if you’re a McCain supporter in a relationship with an Obama fan, maybe a little conflict management couldn’t hurt. Or, it could turn into Bravo’s newest reality show — something like a cross between The Biggest Loser and The Millionaire Marchmaker. And if it does, I want a cut, ’cause you heard it here first!

Joanne is also pondering other news of political importance at her place, PunditMom.

Public places would have more “rest” facilities for women since the lines are always so much longer than for the guys.

Men would be required to do half of the child care for their own kids and every employer would have on-site day-care facilities.

And while I’m at it, I’ll hire Clive Owen and John Cusack to clean my house and cook the meals! Hey, it’s my fantasy, right?

I do believe there is plenty of truth to the argument that loads of things would be better if women ruled the world.

Dee Dee Myers has beaten me to the punch in bringing this discussion to the main stream media.

Myers, the former press secretary to President Clinton, ponders in her new book, Why Women Should Rule the World, an obvious question — just why aren’t there more women in charge of things given the demographics:

Women make up half of law school graduates and roughly a third of all lawyers. But they account for only 15 percent of partners in law firms or federal judges, and 10 percent of law school deans or general counsels at Fortune 500 companies. Women make up nearly half of medical school graduates — but only a quarter of doctors and 10 percent of the deans of medical schools. They are 20 percent of university presidents, but still woefully underrepresented in tenure-track teaching positions, especially in math, science, and engineering. How would a giant increase in the number of women at all levels change law, medicine, and academia?

Yeah, I’ve been wondering that for a long time, too.

We might have a chance to see how that works if Hillary Clinton can overcome the current political situation and move back into the White House in January.

While I’ve made no secret that I cast my ballot for her in my state’s primary election, it’s not a woman president that’s going to get us started down the road to world domination. Things have to start changing in our neighborhoods and our workplaces before our country is ready for a woman to take the helm.

If we can’t even get our society, especially so many employers, to see the importance of having more women lead law firms, head up universities and hospitals, and run businesses, how can we get one controversial “girl” to be in charge of Air Force One?

I’m ready to start trying to convince the guys that I’ve got more to talk about than school pick-up and playdates, how about you?

Cinderella. Sleeping Beauty. Girls who don’t rock the boat. Pretty, demure and corseted. These are the models we let our little girls believe are the ideal.

And that’s Hillary Clinton’s problem. She’s not the “good girl” in that fairy tale princess sort of way. That makes a lot of us a little uncomfortable.

Hillary is more Princess Smartypants than Princess Aurora.

More Mulan than Madeleine.

For some reason, we can’t get past our lingering, underlying obsession with the idea that girls are for rescuing, not ones to be cast in the role of smart problem solver.

In addition to not voting for her or supporting her candidacy, many have started to call for Hillary Clinton to gracefully bow out of the presidential race for the sake of Democratic party unity. I’m the last one who wants to see a nasty fight between her and Barack Obama, and I really do want the Democrats to get focused on how to beat John McCain.

But why is Hillary the one people are calling on to step aside? Yes, she is behind in the delegate count, but not by that much. It’s not like she’s the Democratic version of Ron Paul.

The current delegate tally looks like this:

Obama — 1515, Hillary — 1424.

That’s only a spread of 91 delegates. One of them needs 2025 to get the nomination and there are still plenty of delegates out there to put either one over the top.

If the political shoe was on the other foot, no one would be calling on Obama to step out of the race for the benefit of the woman who was ahead and possibly more qualified. Have you ever seen something like that happen in any workplace setting?

“Say, Joe, I know you’re considering me to be the next CEO of ABC Corp., but you know, we’ve never had a woman running our corporation and Jane is just as qualified as I am and more people on the Board of Directors think she should have the job, so I say she should take that CEO slot! You know, I think it would be in the shareholders’ interest for me to step aside so Jane can just get on with the work of leading us to bigger profits. “

Yeah, in my dreams.

No one has a crystal ball. Sure, some things might be more likely to happen than others in this crazy political atmosphere, but, in all honesty, can we really expect someone who is a viable contender for the White House to willingly and gracefully step aside if there is still a realistic chance of victory? No one called on Mike Huckabee to step aside in the GOP race, and he wasn’t anywhere close to catching McCain.

You can also bet that if the pundits started calling for Obama to withdraw, no one would ask him to do it “gracefully.”

Bit by bit I’ve been “coming out” about my looming big birthday. And as I contemplate what 49-going-on-I-don’t-feel-50 should look like I find thoughts of Botox dancing in my head. And then I feel ashamed.

Aren’t I supposed to embrace myself as I am? I certainly don’t want to send the signal to my eight-year-old daughter that mommy is obsessed with her changing body because soon enough she’ll be confronting her own changes that I want her to embrace. How non-P.C of me to struggle with my bulges and my roots!

Still, I wonder — should I hate this book or run to Barnes and Noble to buy it?

We all know from Hillary Clinton’s critics that no matter how smart or accomplished or powerful a woman is, she’s still going to take some heat for her well-earned wrinkles. Hence the market for this new book.

One writer I love and respect, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen at Time Magazine, thinks I shouldn’t be too quick to harshly dismiss How Not to Look Old since some of the advice could be strategic for getting ahead in the workplace. So I started investigating.

Some of the author’s advice I can go with. From what I gather, if you use a little common sense, I probably already am doing a few things to look “ten times better” — like not wearing jeans with a rise so low that when I bend over I get the Norge repairman look! But I’m going to have to pass on having bangs. Sure, that might make me look younger, but I don’t want to look like I’m 12. Also, I’m not sure about giving up real undies for thongs everyday. That could get a bit uncomfortable.

Some advice that might have spared Hillary some heat? Maybe losing the boxy blazers would have been a good idea, but I have a feeling that no matter what Hillary had decided to wear on the campaign trail, her arch-enemies still would have found something about her appearance to suggest she shouldn’t be Commander-in-Chief.

In the end, How Not to Look Old author Charla Krupp claims that taking her advice is the “ultimate feminist statement! I’m not sure that Gloria Steinem would agree with that, but she probably would acknowledge that no matter how far we’ve come, someone will always find a new way to tap into out feminine insecurities, even if they have to invoke the name of feminism to do it.

I suspect that few of us would allow our husbands to use those words to describe us (even if they are thinking them on occasion) when they are in front of our children, especially not in the presence of our daughters.

Yet, innumerable journalists, especially men, have found it perfectly OK to describe Hillary Clinton in those words as she runs for president, plus many others that get used to describe powerful and assertive women. Hateful and prejudicial phrases that convey an underlying meanness and insecurity about females who challenge traditional stereotypes about women in our society.

If these men, many of whom undoubtedly have daughters, paid the tiniest bit of attention to what their children are focused on, they might rethink the vocabulary they are using to pillory Hillary.

Because believe it or not, our kids are paying attention. Even our youngest children.

Exhibit A? I volunteered for lunch table duty at my daughter’s school this week and I was shocked that the conversation topic of choice at two tables full of first- and second-graders was the presidential election.

Kids were polling each other about whether they wanted to vote for Barack or Hillary (sorry, I did not hear any child say they were for John McCain, but I think that’s just the neighborhood we live in!). I didn’t catch the reason that the boys wanted Obama to be president but the girls were clear — Hillary should be be president because it’s time for a girl to have a turn. Eight-year-old logic at its finest.

But if  seven-and eight-year-olds are choosing to talk about this on their own — really, I swear, I did NOT plant that seed at the lunch table! — then you know they’re also paying attention to what words we and news commentators use to describe the candidates.

In a recent article, Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz wrote, “We bruise our daughters when we bash Hillary Clinton.” She was generally talking about girls a bit older than the ones I sat with this week who were scarfing down chicken nuggets and jelly sandwiches, but the point is the same — our daughters are focused and invested in this presidential race because “a girl” — someone like them — wants to be in charge and make decisions. Girl power is a very big thing for elementary school girls.

Since that’s the case, we all need to be careful how we describe Hillary because you can be sure that whatever we call Senator Clinton, our daughters are going to find a way to internalize that. My second-grade daughter, like so many, thinks she can make good decisions and could possibly be president one day. But if we allow journalists, men or women, to continue to bash Hillary and her historic effort, we may as well tell our girls there’s no point to having that dream, or any dream, because they’ll only be mocked and ridiculed just the way Hillary Clinton has been.

“She can be tough, and even a little steely, an attitude that stems, at least in part from wanting to live up to the high expectations her father set for her. ”

“Politics and policy animate her — like her husband, [after attending Ivy League law schools] she turned away from a lucrative law career to work in public service.

Another profile about Hillary Clinton, you say? Nope.

Those are all quotes from last week’s cover story in Newsweek about Michelle Obama. But they sound vaguely familiar in a Hillary sort of way, don’t they?

As I read the Newsweek story, I couldn’t help wondering why Michelle continues to get such great press and Hillary is sucking gas in the media.

While clearly not a mirror image of each other, I sense that Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton are much more alike than they are different. They both even have a certain amount of low-level snarkiness that appears on the campaign trail when they’re tired. Yet, Michelle gets the benefit of the doubt, and the piling on with Hillary continues.

News reporters seem much more enamored with Michelle than Hillary, and that’s had a huge negative impact on Senator Clinton’s campaign and an equally positive effect on Barack Obama’s efforts to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Why? I can only think of one reason — fresh blood.

But I have this feeling in my gut that while so many of us are pining for change and fresh faces, we are forgetting that many politicians, regardless of party affiliation, are cut from the same fabric — they almost have to be in terms of the drive, ambition and super ego required to think, “Hey, I think I’m good enough to be leader of the free world” — a self-esteem lesson worthy of Daily Affirmations.

Clearly Michelle and Hillary are not the same — but they’re a lot closer than you think. I’d like to see reporters cut them all a little more slack — just show us what they say, tell us what they believe without your spin, and we’ll be OK making our minds up for ourselves about what kind of women they really are.

For the moment, it’s time to take those jokes a lot more seriously.

We trust that if we send our kids off to school with some money for a hot lunch, that while it may not be as nutritious as something we’d cook at home, that a school lunch isn’t going to give them E. coli poisoning. Or mad cow disease. Or salmonella poisoning. This week, a large California meat packing company recalled close to 150 million pounds of beef after an undercover video was disclosed showing sick and downed cows being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

The bad news is that the video was taken several years ago and most of the meat has already been consumed.

The worse news is that much of that beef was used in our school lunch programs.

Thankfully, no illnesses have been reported, though there could be beef still lingering in school freezers.

As bad as the actions of the meat packing plant are, where has the USDA been?? Sure, they prompted the recall, but what have the regulators been doing to make sure that the food that our kids are eating is safe? Isn’t that why we have federal food inspectors? According to news reports, the packing plant, Hallmark/Westland Beef Packing Co., is a major supplier of beef to schools around the country. I’ve already read a few stories indicating that some of the beef went to schools in Maryland and Nevada. Not exactly next door neighbors. So it’s probably safe to assume that every state was a potential destination for the beef.

The USDA is trying to calm us all by claiming that there is nothing to worry about. Your food is safe. Nothing to see here. Keep walking, please.

But isn’t that what they tell us whenever we hear a story like this? It seems like the only thing we can do to keep our families safe is to take matters into our own hands. Short of opening up your own butcher shop, what can a family do?

Aside from eating less meat, one person suggested to me that I look for kosher meats. Or, as I try to do, find a local farmer who raises beef. I’m lucky — my dad falls into that category, so I know that there are no sick or diseased cows being taken to his local butcher to turn into ground beef.

For many families, though, these aren’t even options. If you live in a metropolitan area or in a part of the country without a significant Jewish population, you have to rely on what’s sitting on the shelves in your closest grocery store.

I’d like to think that our health and safety are of primary importance to the government. But I guess when the government is too busy trying to scrounge up more money for the war in Iraq, it’s hard to focus on keeping our food safe here ate home.

I didn’t know then what I know now about the possible chemicals that can leech out of the plastic after many uses and washings. But that doesn’t make me feel any better. Granted, there’s nothing I can do about that now, but how can I be more vigilant going forward?

Mothers across the country are more tuned in to being increasingly green in their daily lives, some becoming EcoMoms – the new superhero of the 21st century, perhaps?

Don’t worry — no need to don an emerald green cape and tights, though that could look cute for St. Patrick’s Day!

But you could host an EcoMom party – think Tupperware or Pampered Chef, only with lessons on the dozens of small ways we can all help protect the environment — and our families and children — every day. No big, sudden movements. Just things that women always do — focusing on the task at hand and marching toward a goal one step at a time.

It’s not just about rethinking the SUV. EcoMoms ponder how to pack eco-friendly kids’ lunches and focus on unplugging unused appliances to save electricity. Even these little acts can be powerful statements to our children to conserve and take responsibility for our the health of our planet. Clearly, those are small ways to start making a difference, but small things add up and soon, our children could be part of the new green revolution

Too optimistic? Maybe. But a girl can dream, can’t she?

PunditMom postcript: Major Beef recall today. How would an EcoMom handle that?

Irresponsible mom, you say? I didn’t think so at the time.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I got sick to my stomach when I read about the latest on baby bottles, water bottles and sippy cups.

A chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic sex hormone that is used to make many hard plastic products like our trusty sippy cups.

Problem is that, over time, the synthetic estrogen starts to leech out of the product so when your baby is taking his nightly bottle or your toddler is grabbing her sippy cup, depending on the age of the product and how many times it’s been through the dishwasher, they’re also sucking down some toxic chemicals.

Pacifiers don’t get a pass, either. And those non-disposable sports water bottles you bought thinking they would be a better alternative to tossing away those disposable Evian bottles? Odds are they’re a problem, too.

Some experts contend that the test results that have shown problems caused by BPA in animals are inconclusive for humans. Maybe. But how many times have we been told in the past that products or drugs were safe and then found out later that the science was wrong?

So what’s a mom to do? There are alternatives, including other types of plastic not made with BPA, glass (though not always the most practical option) and stainless steel.

You can also sign a petition to get manufacturers to switch to safer alternatives.

See, there are ways to get all political this year without having to deal with the presidential candidates!

It’s probably no secret that I tend wear my Democratic politics on my sleeve. But with emotions running high for both the Dems and the GOP in this year’s political campaign, it’s not difficult to find those hawking election memorabilia both for and against all the candidates.

But how to choose something that will best represent your feelings and still be relevant after the election? You know how hard it is to get those bumper stickers off the car!

One of my personal favorites is the Hillary Clinton ice scraper. While practical for those of us who don’t live in the South, whoever came up with this idea just was NOT thinking about how many zingers the GOP and the late night comedians could come up with — icy, slippery, frigid — you get my drift.

On the fence or unhappy with the choices? You haven’t been left out — a special McCain/Clinton cheek-to-cheek bumper stick is made for you, and could have political or comic life left in it after the November election.

Mitt Romney has a little something special for his women supporters, and I do mean little. Nothing says I support my candidate more than a 100% cotton thong with an image of a very happy Mitt emblazoned on it (made in the U.S.A., of course!).

And I’m sure that Barack Obama is totally behind the Dogs for Obama movement!

Trust me — I haven’t even begun to stock up on 2008 Presidential memorabilia that I’m sure will be e-Bay worthy in a few months. A Dennis Kucinich bandana or Ron Paul’s tribute to the summer of love?
Of course, there’s always the “I’ll abstain” option!