New York Daily News
October 23, 2006
By Marie C. Wilson
It wasn't her debate style, her vote on the Iraq war or her stance on abortion that Senate hopeful John Spencer spoke of during a flight to Rochester on Friday, according to a story in this paper yesterday. Just hours before his scheduled debate with incumbent Sen. Hillary Clinton, Spencer brazenly offered his theories on whether Clinton has had plastic surgery, whether he finds her attractive and why Bill Clinton married her in the first place. No matter what your political beliefs, Spencer's comments are inappropriate, and they certainly have no place in a campaign.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that a woman campaigning for office has been maligned based solely on superficialities. Several studies prove that Elizabeth Dole was hurt by this sort of coverage when she ran for President of the United States in 2000. Dole had a stunning résumé as a cabinet secretary in two administrations and president of the American Red Cross. Yet the media focused on her appearance or her marriage to failed presidential candidate Sen. Bob Dole. Despite being the second most popular Republican candidate in the polls and a likely winner if matched against Al Gore in the general election, the media chipped away at her authority, helping to kill her candidacy.
It's tough to be one of a kind - and being a woman in politics right now often means going it alone. When just one woman is running in any given campaign, she's always looked at first through the lens of gender. That's why we must encourage large numbers of women to run for office. When there are more women on the playing field, there will be less emphasis on gender, appearance or spouse - and a sharper focus on what they're actually saying.
When an opponent or a reporter focuses on trivialities, like a woman's hair, hemline or husband, he undermines a woman's authority. The good news is, in this case, it looks like the candidate mainly undercut his own.
Wilson is president of the White House Project, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to putting women in leadership positions.
Originally published on October 23, 2006
