Rove must also know that women, who are 54 percent of the population and may very well decide the next presidential election, just might notice the difference between the presence of "all the president's women" and his conservative policies -- tax cuts for the wealthy, for example -- that do nothing to improve the lives of working women and their families.

A March 10 Gallup Poll, for example, found that Bush faces a gender gap that favors John Kerry by at least 7 percentage points. Single women -- one fifth of the nation's population, who tend to favor Democrats -- are now viewed as this election's demographic swing vote. If they and African American women (who also vote disproportionately for Democrats) ever voted in large numbers, the gender gap would destroy President Bush's chances for a second term.

Rove may therefore be just a bit worried about American women's future political loyalties. Recent studies have shown that single women, who earn modest salaries, do not support tax cuts for the wealthy or huge expenditures for war or the military. What they worry about is health care, economic security, Social Security and good schools. They also tend to support gay rights, abortion and gun control.

Even worse, servicewomen who become pregnant as the result of rape must pay for their own abortions, because these procedures -- for political reasons -- are not covered as part of a soldier's medical care.

In the presidential election that brought George W. Bush to power, the moral character of the candidates was a significant factor with some voters. Among those who rated honesty as an important factor influencing their choice of candidate, 80% said they voted for Bush.

Again and again during the campaign he hammered that theme. On the "Larry King Show," in response to a question about a hypothetical state vote on gay marriage, he replied: "The states can do what they want to do. Don't try to trap me in this states' issue."