Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice answers questions from reporters at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss., Tuesday, April 17, 2012. (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/AP)We may be ready for a woman to be Vice President on television -- witness HBO's new political comedy, "Veep,"which debuted last night -- but in real life, conservative pundits say that the chances of Mitt Romney picking a female running mate are slim to none.

Last week, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was the popular pick for Vice President, according to a CNN/ORC International survey. Twenty-six percent of Republicans and conservative-leaning independents said that they'd choose Rice, who also served as President George W. Bush's national security adviser, and 36 percent of Republicans who aren't in the Tea Party said she was their top choice, beating out former GOP hopeful Rick Santorum, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie by wide margins.

"Name recognition is the key," CNN polling director Keating Holland said. "Rice and Santorum are best known and they top the overall wish list."

But some say that the country's experience with former

The Republican National Committee is offering this $15 mug.Just days after Democratic pundit and mother of two Hilary Rosen questioned Ann Romney's economic expertise, saying that the mother of five "has actually never worked a day in her life," the Republican party has turned the decades-old working-mom vs. stay-at-home mom debate into a fundraising opportunity.

[Related: Is there really a "War on Women"?]

"I believe that Moms do work and can't stand liberals who think that Moms don't," the Republican National Committee says on its website. "To show my support for the hard work done by Moms everywhere and to help defeat elitist liberals like Barack Obama, I would like to purchase a 'Moms Do Work' travel mug." Proceeds from the sale of the $15 mug support the Republican party.

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is offering a "Moms Drive the Economy" bumper sticker on his campaign site, urging supporters to buy one for $6 as a show of unity and support, not just for him, but for women everywhere. "We stand with Mitt and Ann in saying that

By Robert Schlesinger

It's been widely and justly repeated over the last few weeks that the protracted GOP presidential primary process hurt Mitt Romney's general election chances. An interesting panel at the Bipartisan Policy Center on the demographics of 2012 provided some data to back up that notion.

Ruy Teixeira, a progressive demographic expert with the Center for American Progress, among other places, pointed to a recent Pew poll that had President Obama leading among Hispanics by a 68-23 margin, which is a larger proportion than he won by in 2008. "I'm not saying Hispanics are gone in this election, there's plenty of time for Romney to try to readjust," he said. "But I do think some damage was probably done by the Republican primary process, and the not too friendly things that were said about immigrants and immigration reform by all the candidates, including Romney."

[Read the U.S. News debate: Has the Drawn-out Primary Crippled Romney's Chances Against Obama?]

By Leslie Marshall

Now that former Sen. Rick Santorum's officially announced he is putting his campaign on hold, it's looking almost inevitable that former Gov. Mitt Romney will be standing on that GOP platform. Although it could take until the end of May most likely for him to obtain that magic number of delegates needed to officially be the Republican candidate for president, it's even more likely to happen now with Rick Santorum out of the game.

Although many of Santorum's supporters might view Romney as too moderate, don't expect them to throw their support for the long term behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In the end, they want President Obama unseated more than their love of God, Christianity, and their conservative values and politic issues. So in November, they'll either stay home or hold their nose as they vote for Romney.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 GOP hopefuls.]

So for the next few months, we'll all be speculating and predicting

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Forum on Women and the Economy, Friday, April 6, 2012, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)As part of a White House forum on women and the economy, the Obama administration on Friday released a report addressing the unique economic issues American women face "through all stages of life."

"There's been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately, as there should be," President Barack Obama told an audience of entrepreneurs, academics, and business leaders at the White House on Friday. "But I do think that the conversation has been oversimplified. Women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. You shouldn't be treated that way."

[Related: Obama thinks women should be admitted at Augusta]

"Women are over half this country and its workforce -- not to mention 80 percent of my household, if you count my mother-in-law. And I always count my mother-in-law," he deadpanned as the audience laughed.

The new report -- Keeping America's Women Moving Forward, The Key to an Economy Built to Last -- also points out that while women make up the majority of

Wondering who and what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is texting in this Associated Press photo?
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton works from a desk inside a C-17 military plane en route to Libya in october 2011. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/AP/ Pool)

The folks at Texts From Hillary Clinton have a few ideas:
Who else could she be texting? Find out at textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com/
And if some of the things you've heard GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney say on the campaign trail seem a little scripted, the hilarious mash-up at Lucille and Mitt may have an explanation. Take a still of Lucille Bluth from "Arrested Development," add a few words from the former Governor of Massachusetts, and there you have it -- instant fake context.
For more, check out lucilleandmitt.tumblr.com/

I Hope Rick Santorum offers up rambling deep thoughts worthy of Jack Handy, like "I hope Rick Santorum wants to catch a rare wild pokemon he found, but his starter pokemon is too strong and kills it in one move" and "I hope Rick Santorum orders Coke at a restaurant and gets asked if Pepsi is okay."




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Also on Shine:
Mitt Romney would like to be known as Javelin. Rick Santorum? Call him Petrus
Hillary Clinton's scrunchie: Fugly or functional?
Women and

First lady Michelle Obama holds Eun White, 4, as his father Darnell White (left) looks on during a celebration with military families at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on April 4, 2012. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Nearly a dozen private-sector companies have agreed to offer work-from-home job opportunities to veterans and military spouses as part of the White House's Joining Forces initiative to support military families, first lady Michelle Obama told reporters on Wednesday.

"Eleven companies are coming together to pledge more than 15,000 jobs for military spouses," she announced during a small press conference. "The vast majority of these jobs are ones that spouses can do at home, from anywhere in the country."

[Related: Michelle Obama and Jill Biden on how we can all help military families]

Military families move 10 times as often as civilian families, according to data from Joining Forces. The initiative is already working to streamline the licensing procedure for military spouses who have jobs in fields that require a state-issued license, like nursing and teaching. Wednesday's announcement should help military spouses avoid the stress of having to find work every time they have to move.

By Tierney Sneed

A recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Obama's lead among women is growing. He bests former Gov. Mitt Romney, the front-running GOP presidential candidate, 54 to 36 percent among women in the dozen swing states on which the poll focuses. The president's popularity among women secures his overall advantage over Romney, carrying 51 percent of general voters to Romney's 42 percent in those swing states. Ken Walsh reckons, "Much of the erosion in GOP support among women, pollsters say, is due to the Republican focus on social issues, such as limiting the availability of contraceptive services at medical facilities affiliated with religions that oppose those services." The Gallup poll is not the only recent study showing that the debates over contraceptive coverage have helped Obama with women. Looking at data from focus groups sponsored by Resurgent Republic, Peter Roff notes, "Women seem to agree that the recent national debate over the Obamacare mandate that