Celinda Lake and Kellyanne Conway

Celinda Lake and Kellyanne Conway, leading Democratic and Republican pollsters, respectively, were Tuesday's guests. Their new book, "What Women Really Want," examines the changing roles in American politics. Here are excerpts from their remarks:

On what women want, at least in the workplace:

Lake: "[Women are] really demanding more flexibility in the workplace. Control is the new currency.... Forty-six percent of women want to start their own small businesses."

On the implications of the rising number of women entrepreneurs:

Lake: "We have ceded the small business arena far, far too much to the Republican Party. This is a tremendous missed opportunity for the Democrats. Small businesses are the ultimate little guy."

On the implications of the fact that one-third of American women are unmarried:

Conway: "If the Republican Party does not learn to understand unmarried women as the political force and potent block that they have become, we risk becoming the minority party over the next couple of cycles."

On whether the political landscape in 2008 will favor a female presidential candidate:

Lake: "People are ... particularly risk-averse in bad times. It would be much easier, ironically, to elect a woman president when the economy is good and we weren't at war."

On a woman candidate's need to project strength:

Conway: "I have no evidence... that the country is ready for Oprah-in-chief rather than a commander-in-chief."