I have such a backlog of topics to address, thanks to all the great links and topics and stories ideas that readers have been sending me. I thought I'd post this brief piece now, because it is timely. As part of America's Next Great Pundit Contest that I wrote about here, the editors at the Washington Post invited readers to submit questions to the final four pundits vying for the title. I was delighted that the Post chose the question I submitted to Courtney Martin about recognizing the voices of people who are not interested in marrying or having children. Here's my question and her answer.

Summerland, Calif.: Thanks, Courtney Martin, for your thoughtful contributions to the pundit contest. In your first entry, you said, "I don't know a single young man who isn't committed to being an involved father someday." But parenting isn't for everyone, and neither is marriage. If you were to become the next great pundit, do you think such people (those who prefer not to follow the usual path through marriage and parenting) would have a place in your writings? My concern is that they are too often treated as if they do not exist or are not important, and I worry about the dampening effect of that on their political participation.