You know the Democrats are in trouble in Texas when they can't even hold the women. Wait. Let me rephrase that since it doesn't sound real classy put that way. You know Texas Democrats and their candidate for governor, Bill White, are in deep doo-doo when they can't even hold the women's vote. See, generally, women have tended to vote for Democrats because Democrats are seen as the soft and squishy people, the nurturers, the protectors, the kind of guys who are actually glad there's a baby changing station in the men's room, the caregivers, the poets, the men who could sit through 'Sex and the City' without wanting to kill somebody, the men who know yoga (as opposed to the men who quote Yogi Berra) -- the kind of guys who don't throw a whiskey bottle through a TV set on Sunday afternoon when they have to miss part of the Cowboys game to change a diaper. But here it is, about a month away from the election (praise God), and a poll shows that 50 percent of female likely voters would cast their ballots for Gov. Rick Perry, the Republican, and only 40 percent would pick Bill White, the Democrat. That Republicans are getting the women is considered unusual. The poll didn't say if size was a factor. But there's this: When Republican women say bigger is better, they're talking about the old man's American Express limit. Maybe that's the attraction. No, seriously, pollster Mickey Blum says it might be the first time she's seen more women than men backing the Republican. Maybe the men are being out-Republicaned by the women in Texas because of all the male wimp computer programmers moving here from Marin County. But Bill White, not exactly Mr. Excitement, may be the main reason for this transition. Many voters don't know much about Bill White because either he's not buying enough TV ads or we're sleeping through them. And of the few things we do know about Bill White, they're not the things that would necessarily attract women. When we list Bill White, it's 'Bill White, D,' as in Democrat. Instead, it should be 'Bill White, N,' as in nerd. I doubt that women from all over Texas would vote for the nerd over a man who multitasks by hunting while jogging. Except in Austin, where being a nerd is a pickup line. 'Hi, I'm a nerd. Your laptop or mine?' You might hear that at Jo's Coffee on South Congress, but you won't hear it at the Pancake House in Lubbock. Then again, maybe the reason women are backing Perry is that he looks like the kind of guy who would know where the cologne station is at Nordstrom. And in a pinch, a gal could always borrow Rick Perry's hair products. So he'd be a great guy to go shopping with. John Kelso writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: jkelso@statesman.com. 