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Females in Political Leadership Roles

A few weeks ago, on ABC's Good Morning America television show, Diane Sawyer gathered 15 of the 16 elected female senators in the same location for an interview. The number of elected females was no surprise to me. When asked a fill-in-the-blank question describing why they would make better leaders than men, it was no surprise to me either, that the answer contained adjectives like collaborative, multi-tasking, hard working, consensus building, etc. The females stated that they possessed more of these qualities than their male counterparts. I agree. We just have to look at what females have accomplished in managing the household. While the boys were "bringing home the bacon", the girls were settling disputes between siblings, siblings and their friends, children and teachers, the adult girlfriend squabbles, and even settling the disputes in some marriages. I have always believed, with growing confirmation over the years, that females would make better leaders than men.

Some recent events have been starting to bother me though, as more and more females in leadership position fall from their pinnacle. Carly Fiorina and Patricia Dunn, formerly heads of Hewlett-Packard, Martha Stewart ending up in prison, etc, etc. Charlie Gibson of ABC news sat down with some of the elected freshmen democrats, following a recent election. He wanted to know if they were ready to vote against President Bush's will to increase the troop level in Iraq. They all mentioned their disapproval of the war and how it was managed by the Republican party, but they stated that they would give the President what he was asking for. Mr. Gibson asked the female member of the team how she would explain this to her constituents, since the lives of so may American soldiers are being lost as a result of the war, and that her win in the election was based on the public's growing disagreement with the on going war. Her blunt reply was that the constituents should have "thought of this when they voted for George Bush, not once but twice". Was this the answer of a "politician" or a "female"?
I am also disturbed by the behavior of Nancy Pelosi, newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and third in line for the presidency. That is a pretty powerful position, and the ideal place to demonstrate leadership. Ms. Pelosi has fallen short, way short, so far. Ms. Pelosi has a very impressive political resume as the elected

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