Sallie's Forum

C.R. Wiley, a pastor and conservative author living in Washington state, reports he was recently visited by a Democratic canvasser who insisted on talking to Mrs. Wiley -- evidently in the hopes that she, a registered Republican, would be receptive to the Harris pitch as long as her husband wasn't around.

The idea that Republican women would vote Harris if not for the influence of the men in their lives has become a major Democratic theme in the race's closing days.

The campaign doesn't want the candidate herself identified too closely with the dirty work of making that case, however.

Instead, Harris surrogates Michelle Obama and Liz Cheney have been the ones out there arguing that wives should think of their interests as being divorced from their husbands'.

"If you are a woman who lives in a household of men that don't listen to you or value your opinion, just remember that your vote is a private matter," Obama told a rally in Michigan.

Cheney reinforced the message on "Face the Nation" Sunday: "We, you know, obviously, encourage that your vote is a secret vote."
Secrecy is no foundation for a healthy marriage.

Yet Team Harris is afraid of what happens when married couples openly discuss their voting intentions. They need all women to think like they're single.