was reading the n'th article about why there are few women op-ed
columnists here
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=11330.

The article is really about abortion, but I went off on a tangent.

Why are there so few women op ed columnists ? well to present yourself
as an expert on everything you have to be arrogant and overconfident.
It is not possible that a successful columnist is arrogant and
overconfident it is necessary.

Now women have many virtues and abilities, but relatively few women
are over confident. This was proven experimentally in an article
published in the QJE. It is related to perceived excellence.

I think to be considered excellent one has to be arrogant,
overconfident, smart and lucky. Even if women are just as likely to
be smart and lucky as men, they are not going to reach the top as
often.

See also http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_03_19_atrios_archive.html#114289651216912165
"My take on Al Gore and the presidency is that the 2000 election drove
him sane and cured him of the basic level of insanity necessary to
actually want to be president."

I agree but I think that insanity is also necessary for one to think
one can actually win and even to think that the chance is high enough
to justify the humiliation of campaigning and fund raising.