Like me, 18 million of you voted for Hillary Clinton this winter or spring in the 2008 Democratic primary. And you know why. She's smart, she's tough, she's not afraid to speak out, and she is the person best qualified to be the next president of the Unites States.

We turned out in record numbers, but not enough people cast their votes for Hillary. I was disappointed, but I accepted it, believing she would make a great vice president. I was disappointed again when she was not selected to run on the party ticket.

That's when I had a very important decision to make. Obama or McCain? I had to ask myself who was more like Hillary. The answer was easy: Barak Obama. I have to admit, I was initially distracted when Sarah Palin arrived on the scene, surrounded in energy, bravado and controversy. I read the blogs and watched the news, and I was surprised to see the support she commanded for a newcomer on the national scene. But when I stopped to listen, what I heard disturbed me. Seemingly intelligent women rationalized away Palin's draconian views on almost everything.

Banning books at the Wasilla library? No problem, we need to protect our kids from immoral ideas.

Insufficient experience of foreign affairs? Are you kidding? She's lived near Russia for years!

Firing the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner because he refused to fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law? Palin claims she's accountable for her actions.

But I was astonished to hear former Hillary supporters saying they had shifted their support to the McCain-Palin ticket simply because they wanted to support a female candidate.

Why?

The people who are thinking this way - and you know who you are, you white middle class female baby boomers and soccer moms - are the first people to comment that African Americans will vote for Obama simply because he is like them. If that's not acceptable in your book, why on earth would voting for a ticket just because one of the candidates is a woman be any better?

I urge each and every one of you to take this election and your decision to support a ticket seriously. Use your common sense to make an informed, color blind and non-gender-biased decision. Here's how:

Know thyself
Turn off the TV and the cell phone for an hour and define your family's platform. Make a list of the five values that define how you live your life. What catapults you out of bed in the morning? A reasonable paying job so you can support your family? Medical benefits that won't leave you hanging? Fixing the mortgage and housing situation so you can have a decent place to live in a safe neighborhood? Being able to send your children to schools that will prepare them for the world of work and a fulfilling life? What keeps you awake at night? Adequate care for your aging parents? The war in Iraq? You decide. Then rank your values from most important to least important.

Do your homework
Take another hour to scour the official Web sites and compare the candidates' platforms to your own values.
BarakObama.com
McCainPalinVictoryin2008.com

Follow the action
Stay abreast of current events and watch how the candidates react to them. The week of September 15 was chock full of actual and near disasters. How did the candidates react to hurricane Ike and its aftermath? How did they react to the Lehman Brothers fallout and the AIG bailout? Did they understand what was going on? Did they have any concrete ideas about how to keep these things from happening again? it's back to the Web for more research every week. Stay away from Web sites that do not present substantiated facts. Stay away from sites that present biased views. Do visit these sites regularly:
CNN.com
National Public Radio

Watch the evening news
Look beneath the surface. Be skeptical about sound bites that are too short and anything taken out of context. Access Hollywood will still be there on November 5, the day after the election.

Still Can't Decide? Write It In
So what should you do if, on November 4, you're standing in the voting booth at your local precinct, and you still haven't made up your mind? You have the option to cast a write-in vote. If you can't bring yourself to vote for Obama and Biden, please write Hillary's name on the ballot. Don't vote for the McCain-Palin ticket just because you want to see any woman in the White House. When the time is right, another qualified female candidate will appear. We're growing more right now.

Scott Adams had a mole in my former company. He had to. How else would he have been able to arrange this ironic series of events?

One warm sunny summer morning I walked into my cubicle to find the latest issue of the corporate newsletter in my inbox. Inside the front cover of the professionally written, glossy four-color magazine was a letter from the CEO. Because he rarely addressed employees directly, I was immediately intrigued. I sat down and began to read. The letter provided a detailed discussion about how lucky each employee was to work for our company because our organization's mission was to save lives and preserve the environment. Something about this line of thinking made my antennae twitch. We'd had an acceptable year financially, but he was talking about our social impact. I'd really expected the article to be a pat on the back for the financial results.

I switched on my computer and began slogging through the daily avalanche of email. I noticed that my supervisor had scheduled a performance review for that afternoon. I accepted the invitation. Then, keeping with my normal routine, I went to the Web and read the daily Dilbert comic Strip. Here it is:


(Yeah, go ahead and click the strip to see the entire thing. Then hurry right back!)

That afternoon my performance review went very well. I have to admit, I beamed when my boss described my performance as outstanding. But my jaw dropped when he said, "And that's why I'm giving you a 1% raise!" I laughed out loud, unable to believe that all my hard work was worth so little to management. He quickly responded that the most anyone had received was 2%.

I just couldn't resist, I ran back to my desk and printed the Dilbert cartoon, then ran back to my boss' office. Fortunately, the guy had a sense of humor - he bumped my raise to 1.5%, claiming it was the best he could do.

Coincidence? Maybe, but I like to believe that Scott Adams knew what was going to happen when he wrote that cartoon. His moles had provided a highly accurate inside scoop.