No Bunk: Palin Puts Obama To Shame

Obama's Cabinet picks are women) or as one of the czars (though fewer than 10 percent are women).  But even if you sit at the table, you'll still be an Obama outsider if you can't dunk the ball.

Despite Obama's attempted dismissal of the sexism charge as "bunk," his own actions show that he knows the power of behind-the-scenes bonding. As a freshman state senator back in Illinois, Obama helped form a weekly poker game in Springfield, and not just for the fun of it. According to a February '08 New Yorker story: "And, like Teddy Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, Senator Obama seems to have played the game at least partly because it enabled him to form political alliances that he might not otherwise have formed." Or as the president himself told the AP six months earlier: "In Springfield, it was a way to get to know other senators, including Republicans."

So why, Mr. President, do you assume that women do not need these political alliances? Is it that the White House is a man's world (a question that yesterday's New York Times explored on page one)? Or is it simply that you are uncomfortable around women?

American women should expect more from our president. And maybe here is a lesson learned: In the end, women cannot keep relying on men's willingness to include them. It's time to elect a woman president.  With 2012 just around the corner, it's time to find a franchise player of our own.

Amy Siskind is the President and Co-Founder of The New Agenda, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls. Ms. Siskind has appeared on CNN, FOX , and PBS. Ms. Siskind also writes for The Daily Beast,  and The Huffington Post.