Boomer Women "Talking Heads"

When it comes to politics, “talking heads” – the regular commentators on news and talk shows – have almost as much to say as any political candidate. And since the commentators aren’t running for office, they’re a lot less discreet. As it turns out, a number of them are Boomer women. Whether they’re conservative, liberal or somewhere in between, whether you love them or can’t stand the sight of them, these commentators play a substantive part in shaping public opinion.

Andrea Mitchell

Although Mitchell, 65, can be seen as the consummate Washington insider – she’s married to former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan – she ventures into some dangerous territory. Mitchell, 65, now the host of “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” was physically ejected from a 2005 news conference in Sudan after she asked the country’s president about violence there. She’s also gotten into some hot water on the domestic side after referring to the residents of West Virginia as “rednecks.” In her apology,” she said, “When I make a mistake it’s a beaut.”

Peggy Noonan Noonan, 61, is a regular "Wall Street Journal" columnist and guest on shows like ABC's "This Week." She's most famous for writing Ronald Reagan's now-classic speeches in memory of D-Day ("these are the boys of Pointe du Hoc") and of the Challenger crew (with its inclusion of the poetic quote "they slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the face of God.") But although she’s unflaggingly conservative, Noonan didn’t hesitate to alienate some of her fan base by saying that Sarah Palin representated the “vulgarization” of conservatism.

Cokie Roberts The ABC news commentator is one of the rarest of all voices in the talk-show kingdom: a moderate. She gave a moving speech at Betty Ford’s funeral, saying that she had been told by Mrs. Ford a few years before to remind the mourners of the bipartisan spirit that once existed in Washington. On the other hand, Roberts is capable of being blunt, to put it mildly: she called conservative icon Glenn Beck a “terrorist.”

Candy Crowley The moderator of CNN’s weekly “State of the Union” program aims to be an impersonal moderator of the type that was more common years ago than now. And she goes where the stories are; in her years as the network’s chief political correspondent, Crowley, 63, has covered Ronald Reagan’s trip to China and Hillary Clinton’s run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Mika Brzezinski Brzezinski, 44, who co-hosts the MSNBC show “Morning Joe” with conservative Joe Scarborough, is supposed to be his liberal counterpart. Sometimes, though, she surprises him—and her audience. Scarborough has said she’s “pro-life” and “pro-guns.” Brzezinski said her positions on those issues are “convoluted.” She’s clear on one thing, though: When she found out she was earning a fraction of Scarborough’s salary, she demanded a raise and got it.

Donna Brazile Even when debating with die-hard opponents, Brazile, 52, never even comes near losing her cool. Maybe that’s because she’s spent a lot of time being a political operative, where it’s not a good idea to blow up, at least in public. She managed Al Gore’s ill-fated presidential campaign in 2000, and today she’s a regular on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

Greta Van Susteren Van Susteren, 57, the host of Fox’s “On The Records With Greta von Susteren,” is capable of annoying conservatives and liberals. She’s praised a book by New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson (OK, so it wasn’t about politics) and she recently called for a boycott of a broadcasters’ dinner that was going to feature the foul-mouthed comedian Louis C.K. In a demonstration of Van Susteren’s power, the comedian stepped down.