An Unruly Woman

More than ever before, America is today a truly representative democracy. Pick up a newspaper, turn the dial to your favorite radio station, surf the Web or hit the remote, you’ll find an ocean of public opinion, all right there for your own personal review.

What are people saying about this election? One of the most interesting comments, which I heard on Randi Rhodes’ radio show and has been quoted elsewhere, goes something like this: How great is it that Presidential 3rd-runner John Edwards’ biggest problem is that he’s not a black woman?

A 2006 CBS News poll showed 92 percent of Americans said they would vote for a woman president from their political party if she was qualified for the job, and the highest percentage ever - 55 percent - felt the country is ready for a woman president. Surprisingly, more men than women felt that way; not surprisingly, more Democrats than Republicans did. But do Americans really believe what they’re saying?

In a commentary based in part on her soon-to-be-published book Pearls, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead, Madeleine Kunin reports her conclusion that “electing women is contagious. The more you see, the more you get.” (Washington Post, January 11, 200 The reason Senator Hillary Clinton did so well in New Hampshire, she believes,  has to do with the number of women already elected there. Nationally speaking, New Hampshire has the second highest percentage of women in the state house. In other words, to people in New Hampshire, seeing a woman run was not cause for commenting on her demeanor, her hairstyle or her wardrobe, but for objectively evaluating her strengths as a lawmaker.

By contrast, Iowa has elected an average number of women to its legislature and has never elected a woman to Congress or to the governor’s office, Kunin writes.

If familiarity is, indeed, a measure of whether Americans are ready for a woman president, then we’re in a bit of a spot. Only 16 women serve in the 100-seat U.S. Senate, and just 70 women serve today in 435-member House. Only nine women occupy governors’ offices, and only 23 percent of all those serving in state legislatures are women. (Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics).

Still, Hillary Clinton appears to be doing quite well. Even tough she’s lost some ground to Senator Barack Obama, she remains a front-runner - some would argue THE front-runner. It’s a long time until November, anything can happen. But is Senator Clinton’s clear success an indication that America really is ready for a woman president?

In a recent Newsweek column, Anna Quindlen points out that Americans are more deeply engaged in this presidential race than in previous election years. I find this concept endlessly fascinating, the way voters finally get involved when government starts pushing its way into our lives, demanding our sons and daughters fight a war or reaching into our pocketbooks or invading our privacy. Consider, too, Michigan’s term limited legislature has been dilly-dallying with the state budget for years, but it wasn’t until lawmakers decided to raise taxes that citizens became outraged and began drafting recall petitions.

If this is, indeed, as Quindlen says, “the end of apathy,” then voters will finally decide where to cast their vote based on solid information, rather than first impressions, on substance over appearance.

If this is, indeed, “the end of apathy,” then it really won’t matter whether America is ready for a woman president, because the best-qualified candidate should come out on top.

I’m not at all sure she’s right. But I do envy her optimism.

–Joni Hubred-Golden
Michigan Woman Blogger