In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times.

Gail Collins/White Guys Are Back

The Short Version: Barack and Hillary are chasing after the undecided demographic.

In her words: “The candidates have already resigned themselves to wooing people with political attention deficit disorder.”

Score: B- (Blah)
Some days we love Collins’ brand of easy-going and somewhat detached humor; other days — in this is one of them — she kind of gets on our nerves. Maybe it’s that her discussion of race treads dangerously close to stereotypes, which makes her jokes feel a little off the mark.

Timothy Egan/Big Sky Slugfest

The Short Version: People are excited about the Democratic primary in Montana, which will be the last one held.

In his words: “The conventional thinking was: the Democrats would tear each other apart while Senator John McCain built up his personal equity. But it’s not going according to script.”

The Score: D- (Dull)

With Bob Herbert suspiciously “off today” — we have a feeling he’s finally getting kicked out the door — we wonder why The Times felt compelled to give the column to yet another middle-of-the-road white suburban Dad. Though we didn’t disagree with anything Egan says in this column, we found ourselves continually mulling over a startling question: could Egan be the most boring writer ever except for Roger Cohen?