(Photo: Getty)

Council Speaker Christine Quinn rolled out more endorsements for her mayoral campaign today in order to launch "Women for Chris"-- highlighting the historic nature of her bid to become the first female mayor of New York City. Among those to announce their support for Ms. Quinn were former Comptroller Liz Holtzman, former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, comedian Whoopi Goldberg and others.

“I am proud to be supporting the candidate I feel most represents the heartbeat of this great city—Christine Quinn,” Ms. Goldberg said in a statement.

"My mother once said 'The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be thearrangement of your chromosomes,'"  Liz Abzug, daughter of former congresswoman and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Bella Abzug, added. "Well, today I am proud to support Christine Quinn for Mayor, not because she is a woman, but because she has been, and will be, an effective advocate for all New Yorkers.”

Today's press conference, held in front of the Eleanor Roosevelt Statue on the Upper West Side, comes one month after one of Ms. Quinn's rivals, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, launched his own "Women for de Blasio" event. The press today, however, was mostly interested in getting Ms. Quinn to talk about another potential rival, former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Ms. Quinn declined to elaborate on either Mr. Weiner or the sexting scandal that drove him from office two years ago.

"Typically, when I walk and talk, we talk about me," Ms. Quinn replied at one point, according to Capital New York. "And we talk about the New Yorker and whatever their issue is."

Diane Sawyer with the women of the U.S. Senate. (Photo: ABC/Martin Simon)

Yesterday, a record 20 women were sworn in to the U.S. Senate. To mark the occasion ABC's World News With Diane Sawyer had all of the female senators on for a group interview. One of the major topics of the discussion was the belief of many of the senators that they achieve better results than their male colleagues on a variety of issues including the budget, immigration reform and climate change. Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow got the ball rolling when she suggested women are more inclined to get results by working in a bipartisan manner.

"It was the first time in 2001 when we had enough women to actually be on every committee, to have a woman's voice, a woman's experience [and] a woman's values on every committee. You fast forward to now, the new year. There will be six of us chairing committees and other women in the ranking member spot," Ms. Stabenow said. "And I think the public understands to get things done, we're the ones that want to work across the aisle to do that."

Maine Senator Susan Collins took the argument a step further by saying if women were in charge of the Senate and in the White House there would be a solution to the budget debate that has gripped Washington.

"I think if we were in charge of the Senate and of the administration that we would have a budget deal by now," Ms. Collins said. 

When New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte weighed in, she backed away from Ms. Collins' point and said she was't sure a Senate and Executive branch controlled by women would have completed a budget deal.

"Well, I think that--you know, women are great problem solvers," said Ms. Ayotte. "I don't know if it would get done, but I know that the people here are committed to making sure that we solve our problems."

Ms. Sawyer pressed the point and asked how that was "different" from the male senators. Ms. Ayotte disagreed with the assertion women would be better problem solvers in the Senate than men.

"I think to say that men aren't focused on solving problems wouldn't--wouldn't be accurate," Ms. Ayotte said.

Ms. Collins stepped back in to defend her point.

"Let me just finish my thought on that," said Ms. Collins. "What I find is with all due difference to--deference to our male colleagues, that women's styles tend to be more collaborative."

Later on in the interview, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski said she believes women bring a "sense of timeliness" to the Senate that is not shared by their male colleagues.

"I can tell you every single one of these women has great pressure on them not only for their constituents, but their families. We don't believe in the culture of delay," Ms. Mikulski said. "In this institution if they can delay a problem, pick an argument--and wait till next year they'll do it. Us, we want to get it done. And I think that's the impact when women are chairing these committees to involve, to listen, mutual respect, mutual trust and get the job done."

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu cited a specific issue where she felt the female perspective was advantageous--immigration reform.

"I'll give you a specific on immigration reform. And I think this could come naturally to us. There's a big issue right now about S.T.E.M., about science, technology, engineering and math and extending immigration visas for doctoral candidates," said Ms. Landrieu. "When I first heard that I thought it was a great idea. But my thought was, 'I wonder about their spouses. Are they gonna get visas as well?' I mean, I don't know if a man would have thought of that. I mean, I think a perspective--when we're doing immigration reform we're thinking of not just the individuals...the visa but the family, their relationships with children or with....I think that's just one example. There could be many more. But without a woman at the table that might not come up. It could, but it may not. I think it comes up more quickly."

Ms. Sawyer went on to ask the assembled female senators whether any of them might be future presidents. Washington's Patty Murray responded that women would bring a different outlook to a presidential campaign than men.

"I think the thing is--is that every man wakes up in the morning and looks in the mirror and says, 'I could be president,'" Ms. Murray said. "I think every woman looks in the mirror and says, 'What can I get done for my country today?'"

California Senator Dianne Feinstein chimed in to say that having less testosterone makes female politicians more effective.

"I think one of the things that we have done throughout our career is earned a portfolio of expertise. We have worked our way up, we have done our apprenticeship. We understand how government should function and we want to play a role toward that positive functioning. This is one of the reasons I think women become effective originally, that they can sound that call," said Ms. Feinstein. "Another reason I think, you know, we're less on testosterone. We don't have that need to always be confrontational. And I think we're problem solvers, and I think that's what this country needs."

Ms. Feinstein continued by suggesting climate change is another issue women in the Senate may make more progress on than men have.

"I was just gonna say one other thing. If you take a big issue that men have not been able to solve, it's the issue of climate change," she explained. "What would happen if 20 of us cosponsored a bill? What would happen if we went out and mobilized American women to support that bill? It may...this may be a real point of major differentiation that we could get this done for America and essentially lead the way."

Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin concurred that women might be able to make more progress on climate change because of their "unique capability" to think about future generations.

"On that topic, I think that there's unique capability of being able to think about the effect of our actions today on generations hence that women share," Ms. Baldwin said. "We have that long range vision."

Watch Ms. Sawyer's full interview with the senators below.

Ex-cop and current gun owner Val Demings. (Photo: ValDemings.com)

In advance of the upcoming elections, the women's magazine Marie Claire got a look inside the purses of several prominent female candidates for their "Running in Heels" feature. Based on their findings, iPads and other Apple gear are must-have accessories on the campaign trail, but a few of the women in the article apparently tote less standard fare including one candidate with a heavy energy drink habit and another who's packing heat.

New Mexico Senate candidate Heather Wilson, Hawaii congressional hopeful Tulsi Gabbard and Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon said iPads were among the essentials in their purses. Elizabeth Warren, who is running for Senate in Massachusetts, noted she carries a "backpack" rather than a purse and said she brings around an iPod rather than a tablet.

In addition to the iPad, Ms. Wilson said she has an "iPhone, credit card, PowerBars and Rockstar Lemonade" in her "small Coach briefcase." Ms. Gabbard opts for something far more mellow than energy drinks to go along with her tablet. She revealed her purse is also stocked with "meditation beads," a hairbrush and, of course, "campaign brochures."

Locally, Queens Assemblywoman Grace Meng was featured in a separate sidebar that covered her daily routine, but didn't reveal what's inside her bag. We reached out to Ms. Meng's campaign and found the contents of her purse contents include,  baby wipes, Fresh brand lip gloss, flats, a Kellogg's cereal bar, and an iPhone.

For her part, Illinois congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth is clearly quite proud of her bag, which is a vintage store find.

“I have a fabulous vintage hot-pink purse I got for $10. It fits my speeches, netbook, Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer in Rhubarb, and Sephora Minimergency Kit,” reported Ms. Duckworth.

Tammy Baldwin, who is running for Senate in Wisconsin, said her bad holds "only the essentials."

"I keep my purse small so my male staff aren’t embarrassed if they have to hold it for me.”

By far, the most interesting find was in the purse of Democratic Florida congressional candidate and former Orlando police chief Val Demings, who is apparently armed out on the campaign trail.

“I carry a 9-millimeter gun in my Dooney & Bourke that was a gift when I retired from the police department,” she said.

View the full article below:

Congressman Peter King voiced his displeasure with Newt Gingrich.

NYPD officers ate Occupy Wall Street's pizza. 

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries were happy a judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to block a law against prison gerrymandering.

Herman Cain said he's making a big announcement in Atlanta tomorrow.

Mr. Cain played defense against his mounting sex scandal accusations with a new "Women for Cain" website.

However, Mr. Cain's marriage was "already strained" prior to his series scandalous allegations.

There's been a lot of "gorilla dust" in the White House press office of late.

Update: The New York Daily News article linked here incorrectly reported Mr. Huntsman's fundraiser was hosted by the actor Ben Stein. In fact, Mr. Huntsman's fundraiser was actually hosted by another man named Ben Stein who is a young heir of the Rothschild family. (12/6 12:49 p.m.)

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann wants to talk about sex. (Getty)

Minnesota Congresswoman and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann blasted her rival Newt Gingrich for his position on babymaking. In an interview with ABC reporter Jake Tapper today, Mr. Gingrich said he believes human life begins at implantation. Congresswoman Bachmann responded by releasing a statement criticizing Mr. Gingrich's position and making it known she believes life begins the moment an embryo is conceived.

Mr. Gingrich aired his opinion about when human life begins after Mr. Tapper asked him to clarify his position on stem cell research.

"I think that if you take a position when a woman has fertilized egg and that’s been successfully implanted that now you’re dealing with life because otherwise you’re going to open up an extraordinary range of very difficult questions," said Mr. Gingrich, who supports some

Implantation, which is when a fertilized egg attaches itself to the wall of a woman's uterus, typically occurs seven to fourteen days into a pregnancy.

"Newt Gingrich stated today that life begins at implantation not at conception. But those who are truly involved in the life issue know that life begins at conception," Congresswoman Bachmann said.

In her statement, Congresswoman Bachmann went on to say she thinks Mr. Gingrich's views on pregnancy could cost him his current status as the Republican frontrunner.

“While Newt has presumptively declared himself the nominee, I believe the people of Iowa and all Americans will reject any candidate who fails to understand when life begins and that protecting it is the top priority for conservatives," Congresswoman Bachmann said. "I’ll always side with life."