|
April 14, 1999 Dole becomes first viable female candidate in history By Katie Thaman Women gained the right to vote in the United States in 1920, and since then they have become a much more integrated part of the U.S. government, but the country has yet to elect a woman to fill its top governmental position. The year 2000 may bring more change than simply a new millennium; it could be the year when Americans elect the first female president of the United States. "I think Americans yearn to make our country a better place," presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole said when she spoke in Des Moines March 10, launching her exploratory committee. She said she is the person to lead the country to that place. She said, "We need to restore to the Oval Office a person who really should be there - a role model for all Americans." Accompanying her on stage at the Polk County Convention Center when she announced the formation of her exploratory committee were several people proclaiming Dole as just that - a role model. Lisa Smith, a working mother from Ottumwa, Iowa, said Americans need Dole as president, "so when I turn on my television, I can say to my children, 'See, you need to be just like that.'" Dwayne Auker, a farmer from Atlantic, Iowa, said, "Her values are the country's values." Dole has important qualities such as honesty and integrity, Auker said, and she is a hard worker who sees and tells it like it is. He called her a "model volunteer" with the American Red Cross. Some sources are not quite as positive about Dole's chances in this presidential campaign. She has never held an elected office, and it would be a large jump to go from public service to president of the United States, they say. One of Dole's most valuable qualities, though, which her Iowa Campaign Manager Monte Shaw believes is helping her immensely, is her ability to communicate and connect with people. That connection is made whether she is speaking on national television or in a small-town restaurant, Shaw said. Iowa State Rep. Galen Davis, R-Ottumwa, called Dole a "people person," and he said he likes people like that. Davis, a police sergeant in Ottumwa, said, "Being a cop, you get to know people by listening to them, and you learn how to read people and how to trust and not trust people." Shaw said, "I don't know what 'it' is, but it's there. It's an intangible - one of the most important intangibles a president can have." |
Story Index Dole becomes first viable female candidate in history Dole has strong resume for nomination |