by New York Times Columnist Gail Collins

In the middle of 2008, Hillary Clinton transformed herself from a perfectly-fine-but-slightly-boring presidential candidate to a really terrific campaigner. This all happened too late to help her candidacy. But some of us hoped that it might be the beginning of a new era. Women in politics had always had a reputation for being honest and steady and hard-working. Maybe some of the next generation would also have a wow factor.

That is exactly what happened. Except the smart and steady women were not the ones who got the wow.

The sensible candidates actually seemed to get more boring. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s attempt to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Texas was one long yawn. You might have said it was the worst major campaign so far this year, if you had not seen the one where Martha Coakley tried to become the senator from Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, two of the hottest names in politics are Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.

They held a joint rally in Minneapolis this week, and it was one long wow. Palin called the crowd “you who love your good hunting and fishing.” Bachmann sounded like a combination of an ancient Roman matron preparing to send her sons off to die for their country, and one of those people who walk around yelling that enemies implant secret radios in their brains while they’re sleeping.

Their superstardom is a very bad development, even though there is no reason to believe either is ever going to be elected to a position where they could do serious damage. (If Sarah Palin was seriously planning a presidential run, do you think she’d have agreed to be speaker-for-hire at the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America Convention at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas this week?)

The problem is that they’re all wow and no substance. Palin is living proof that you can be popular without having to try very hard. It appears she’s never going to respond to all the pundits who urged her to go back to Alaska and read up on current events.

To read the editorial, visit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/opinion/10collins.html?src=me&ref=general