No matter what the question was during the debate, the candidate's answer was always "breast cancer."

"We have to do more about breast cancer," he said.

"I will do more about breast cancer," he promised.

Undoubtedly, you'll agree with me when I say that breast cancer -- as well as every other cancer known to man - is something we should all be concerned about.

Just like you, I want to see every scourge that confronts us dealt with convincingly.

The trouble with the breast cancer gambit in politics is that while it's meant to show sensitivity to "women's issues," all it really reveals is just how alien the political establishment still considers women.

This past weekend, the last big push before Tuesday's vote, I was driving in the vicinity of Port Jefferson when the crux of the situation occurred to me: to many in the political establishment, there are two types of women -- "mother" and "all those women we just can't understand."

Starting out with that mind set, it's not a big step to getting into the notion of "women's issues." After all, if you feel separate and apart from people you don't understand -- and who, you assume, don't understand you either -- well then, there must be "our issues" and "their issues."

Not only is this completely wrong-headed, but it's also as exploitive and as demeaning as the old stereotype of construction workers whistling at every women who walks past their work site.

The time for political parties to realize that issues are issues and that people are people, albeit with subtle differences, is long past due.

If a woman isn't as concerned about the fate of the Earth, or taxes, or education, or any of the other things that confront us in our daily existence as I, as a man, am, I'd think her off her nut. And that works vice-versa too.

What I'm saying is, we all share the same Earth, the same society, and we are all human beings. Personal philosophies may vary from person to person, but to say gender determines areas of concern is not only ludicrous, it's patently dishonest.

I'm tired of defined sub-groups like "soccer moms" and the latest, even more offensive "waitress moms." I'm tired campaigns being little more than a series of press-their-buttons one-liners.

What I want is for the nonsense to stop and for political candidates to stand up and say, "I believe I'll represent you better because I feel strongly about... X,Y, and Z... and I think this policy will be more beneficial to you than that one."

Well, what can I say, a guy can dream can't he? (Oh, and incidentally, I understand so can a woman).

Daniel J. McCue