My wife and her little sister, who is 17, have been highly distressed about their mother these days. No, not because of Mom's bad knees. It's because Mom is still one of those dreaded undecided voters who has been given serious thought to voting for Romney. She loved W. She had voted for McCain.

My wife, to date, has only employed the "bull-by-the-horns" strategy to try to bring Mom back from the Dark Side. Lots of raised voices, lots of "Mom, how could you?" She reminded her of the cratered Bush economy -- during which Mom lost an executive position and is now prematurely and unwillingly, essentially retired. She reminded her of how crappy things were for women when her mother was younger. And yet, no success. Mom was sticking to her GOP leanings.

Follow me over the orange cruller for the denouement.

Enter little sister, who is mature beyond her years and politically tuned-in. She gathered up video on the modern GOP and laid it out for Mom. She sat her down and together they watched Todd Akin describe how mysterious ladyparts "shut down" pregnancy from rape, and how Richard Mourdock thinks pregnancy from rape is "what God intended."

And then, little sister steeled her gaze and put her mother on the spot:

"Mom, if I were raped, would you make me have that baby?"

That was all the convincing Mom needed. She relented, and we have now gained one new Obama voter!

(And if anyone is a fan of Mudcat Saunders "electoral math," that's actually two votes -- one gained for our side, and one lost for theirs!)