SISTERS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES. Barack Obama is black; Hillary Clinton is a woman. So how do African-American women see the Obama-Clinton matchup? That�s the question I ask in the first installment of my new column for the Baltimore Sun, which begins today and will run every Wednesday.

FWIW, I agree with Matt that Obama�s entrance to the race complicates significantly the �inevitability� of Clinton�s nomination, especially given the voting power of African-American women voters who, amazingly, out-participate black men at such high rates that they cast 59 percent of all black votes in the 2004 general election. (By compare, women cast just 53 percent of white votes.)

Anyway, check out the piece. Hearing from South Carolina state Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter — one of my favorite politicians, at any level, in the country — is worth the (free) price admission alone.

—Tom Schaller

Ann Friedman is a columnist for New York magazine’s website and for the Columbia Journalism Review. She also makes pie charts for The Hairpin and Los Angeles magazine. Her work has appeared in ELLE, Esquire, Newsweek, The Observer, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. She lives in Los Angeles, but travels so often the best place to find her is online at annfriedman.com. Follow @annfriedman