I still find the term “Republican woman” an oxymoron, but in the Washington Post, columnist Kathleen Parker writes that they may just be the future of the GOP.

In the past few months, several conservative women have emerged as candidates and critics to challenge the notion that the GOP is the party of men. They’re also putting to rest any thought that Sarah Palin is the female face of the party.

…First up in this new league of their own are two celebrity entrepreneurs. Meg Whitman, former chief executive of eBay, is running for governor of California. And Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, plans to challenge California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Parker also mentions Meghan McCain and Liz Cheney.

I love the idea of women shaping the future of the GOP, which has suffered from an excess of testosterone that really kills it as a party. These are the most unpleasant of men.

But alas, it won’t be these four women. McCain is kind of sweet, but she’s a lightweight. Liz Cheney is a Cheney, a name that will be forever polarizing now. Carly Fiorina was a disaster at H-P, and Meg Whitman just doesn’t make a very plausible candidate. She’s one of those aspiring politicians, like Steve Forbes, about whom one thinks, Why are you putting yourself through this? You’re not good at it. Also: She bought Skype, whoops. And she didn’t vote since the election of George Bush—George Herbert Walker Bush, that is.

Of the four, I think Meghan McCain will be the most influential. I’ve seen her on TV, and she is at least warm; unlike, say, Fiorina and Whitman—and, okay, Cheney—you can tell she has a heart that is actually beating. Her rise to a position of some influence wouldn’t be the worst thing for the GOP. But the party’s men will fight it to the bitter end.