<i>Madam</i> Governor?
In her latest Political Points commentary, CBS News Senior Political Editor Dotty Lynch takes a look at the barriers facing women who seek executive office.
Oscar nominee Joan Allen's Sen. Laine Hanson in The Contender faced some mighty tough obstacles when she tried to go from a legislative office to an executive one. But she is not alone. A report out this week says that executive offices, in particular that of governor, are still a reach for women.
Today there are only four states with women governors: New Hampshire, Delaware, Montana and Arizona; New Jersey's Christine Todd Whitman left office early to head the EPA in the Bush administration. In the nation's entire history there have been only 18 women governors. Of those 18, only 12 have been elected in their own right; three succeeded their husbands and three got the job when the sitting governor left office early.
The report, Keys to the Governor's Office, Unlock the Door: A Guide for Women Running for Governor was sponsored by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation and draws heavily on the research of Republican pollster Linda DiVall, Democratic pollster Celina Lake and Democratic strategist Mary Hughes.
They analyzed 10 races where women ran for governor in 1998, conducted a national survey, did focus groups with target groups of voters and interviewed numerous candidates, campaign managers and political consultants. Their major conclusion is that many voters still have a difficult time imagining women in charge, and women have to prove that they can run something in order to overcome this barrier.
Mandy Grunwald, who has been a media consultant for two of the 12 successful women gubernatorial candidates (Oregon’s Barbara Roberts and New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen), as well as for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., says the difference between voters' acceptance of women running for governor versus senator is "huge."
"The governor's job is viewed as far more serious, requiring toughness and executive ability while a Senator is judged on her beliefs," Grunwald says.
The report tells women gubernatorial candidates that they must build a solid political career before running because outside experience is not automatically seen as relevant.
"Voters are more intrigued by male candidates who are outsiders, chief executive officers," says Lake. "They are wary of women who are outsiders." The report also advises demonstrating financial expertise, managing a crisis and then taking credit for doing it successfully.
One of the qualities voters question in women is decisiveness, which is something they believe is crucial for an executive. "Voters wonder whether a woman candidate for governor can be action-oriented enough to deal with crises and to act decisively," the report states.
Grunwald says the image that women must project is one f strength. "Showing how a candidate took on special interests and won the battle," will go a long way to convince skeptical voters, she says.
Focus group participants also suggested that women benefit when they take on so-called "men's issues" – like dealing with a budget deficit or economic development – and are able to blend those with traditional female advantages such as being viewed as more compassionate on family and social issues.
Older voters, both men and women, show the greatest resistance to women candidates, and the report stresses how important it is for women gubernatorial candidates to get out their base to compensate for losses among older and more traditional voters.
But the key, in the end, might just be getting more capable women to run. While the numbers of women in Congress has been rapidly increasing, according to the Center for American Women and Politics, of the 700 women nominated for Congress in the last three decades, 131 have won (18.7 percent). The ratio for gubernatorial candidates is actually a bit better: 53 nominated, 12 winners (22.7 percent).
Lake points to her clients, Sens. Mary Landrieu and Debbie Stabenow, who lost races for governor but then came back to win for Senate, as examples of how much easier it is to win a legislative seat. But it may just be that they became better candidates the second time around.
Former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin, in her book, Leading a Political Life, contrasts her successful run in 1986, where she took clear and decisive stands, with her first campaign in 1982, where she relied on long, detailed position papers.
Having more successful role models also breaks down voters' resistance, although Kunin says it can sometimes go too far. Her chief of staff's son was overheard one day saying he couldn't be governor "because that's a woman’s job."
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