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Why is it that countries like India and Pakistan accept female leaders while the USA cannot? Is it male insecurity or chauvinism that keeps women from running for president here?
C. Brown, Detroit

Neither, says Geraldine Ferraro, the only woman ever to run on a major-party ticket for national office. She predicts: "If Al Gore wins, you'll see a serious woman Republican presidential or vice presidential candidate in 2004." Her money is on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who might have become George W. Bush's running mate if she weren't from Texas. Ferraro, 65, now a management consultant and Fox News pundit, tells us Hutchison wants to run. "People don't get drafted. You have to want it. As much as Sen. Dianne Feinstein had been mentioned, she never indicated this is something she would like to do."

I heard that Olympics anchor Bob Costas is leaving NBC. Where is he going?
Judy Allen, Decatur, Ala.

Costas, 48, will stay on at NBC but will host a weekly sports-magazine show on HBO, to debut in February. The bosses at NBC were willing to let Costas make the HBO deal because he has gone the extra mile for them in his 20 years with the network. He will anchor future Olympics and contribute to NBA coverage but won't handle play-by-play. Costas graciously gave up that duty to the man he replaced in 1997, Marv Albert. Albert, fired after a misdemeanor assault conviction, has been back on NBC the past two years.

I've seen Sela Ward in a couple of TV movies and know her Sprint ads well. Is she doing anything besides Once and Again, a show I'm sorry to say I have not yet caught?
Nancy Lusk, Mentone, Ala.

Tune in to Once and Again this Tuesday because you're missing Ward's best work. She earned a best actress Emmy for the ABC show, which continues to revolve around her. Besides, she's not doing any other acting at the moment. While her Once and Again performance has resulted in more interest from Hollywood's film community, Ward, 43, wants to spend her off hours with son Austin, 6, and daughter Anabella, 2.

I'm a big Cher fan who wonders what she's up to these days since Believe revived her career. Does she have a steady beau?
Diane Willis, Hesperia, Calif.

No, but her daily planner leaves little time for love. At 54, Cher has something going in four arenas: music, movies, TV and, for the season, politics. She's a huge Hillary Clinton fan, so she hosted a fund-raising tea for the Senate candidate. In addition, she's producing a TV makeover show and looking for someone to host it; she'll direct and star in a remake of the 1924 film The Enchanted Cottage; she plans to star in a TV version of Mame; and she'll soon begin work in London on a new CD.

I like The West Wing's Bradley Whitford, who plays the president's deputy chief of staff. What's he like?
Bruce Heilbrun, Dearborn, Mich.

We know he's charming and can talk politics like the pro he is on TV. But don't get him started on Hollywood and violence. Whitford, 41, might tell you (as he told us) that he liked Pulp Fiction but that afterward, "I wanted to take [director] Quentin Tarantino outside and slam his fingers in a car door to show him it's not funny." Whitford's résumé is impressive, yet he says both he and his wife, Malcolm in the Middle mom Jane Kaczmarek, are "having [work] experiences beyond our wildest expectations." What do their shows have in common? "Writers who are set free."

I'd like to know more about TV lawyer Greta Van Susteren, best known for her O.J. Simpson interviews.
Mike Walt Sr., Westville, Ind.

Van Susteren, 46, grew up in a "close-knit family, full of ideas and talk of politics" in Appleton, Wis., and attributes most of her success to her dad, a judge who died in 1989. She shares a passion for dogs and sailing with her husband of 12 years, lawyer John Coale, 53. Today, the former USA WEEKEND legal-advice columnist teaches at Georgetown University's Law Center in addition to co-hosting the CNN legal show Burden of Proof with Roger Cossack.

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THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS
November 5: Bryan Adams, 41; Sam Shepard, 57
November 6: Ethan Hawke, 30; Maria Shriver, 45; Sally Field, 54
November 7: Jeremy and Jason London, 28; Billy Graham, 82
November 8: Jason Williams, 25; Courtney Thorne-Smith, 33; Bonnie Raitt, 51
November 9: Peta Wilson, 30; Lou Ferrigno, 49
November 10: Mackenzie Phillips, 41; Sinbad, 44
November 11: Leonardo DiCaprio, 26; Calista Flockhart, 36; Demi Moore, 38