Democrats Let Women Serve but Not Lead

There’s a gender gap in the Democratic Party. The dutiful devotees of diversity just had an election for their leadership in the House of Representatives, and the outcome was “women need not apply.” All four leaders voted into the Democratic leadership last week are males.

One searches for the proper words--the ones so favored by those politically correct lefties who’ve gloated these past weeks about dominating the “women’s vote.” It’s not unreasonable to conclude of the Democrats that the “suits” won out. The testosterone ran high. They just don’t get it.

One out of every five House Democrats is a woman. In the leadership, they get zippo.

Nearly one out of every five House Democrats is an African American. In the leadership, they get zippo.

Not a single woman, African American or Latino--the ballot-busting bulwarks of their party--even dared run for one of the top two spots. And only one woman--a brave Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut--deigned to make a run for one of the top four.

And when the Democrats dump on their female members, what do we hear from the dumpees? “I’m disappointed but not concerned,” was the tepid response from California’s Rep.-elect Grace Napolitano. In a letter to her colleagues, Rep. Nancy Pelosi noted lamely: “I am interested in an elected House leadership role when there is an opening.” An opening? Maybe when the boys decide it’s OK.

Then there was this response from Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter: “They understand where the votes come from in this party. I think they’ll do the right thing.” Now, that kind of tough talk is bound to scare reelected Minority Leader Dick Gephardt into action.

Democrats love the nanny state, but they remain the daddy party. Um, did someone mention affirmative action? Where are the quota queens when we need them? The diversity police?

Look who gets paraded out to defend Bill Clinton’s fitness for office at every turn--Pelosi, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Not to mention Hillary. And on the talk shows, their names are Mandy, Jennifer, Cynthia and Dee Dee. By golly, if they’re good enough to send into battle, why aren’t they good enough to run their party?

As convenient backdrops, they are allowed to twist and shout for the cause, fighting with spirit to salvage some shred of dignity for their party. But when they contemplate ascending to the leadership, the response from the guys is all profile and no courage.

As for Gephardt, this month has brought the bad with the good in the form of a comment that surely will come back to haunt him when he seeks the presidency next year.

At a lunch with reporters, Gephardt made Social Security reform (surprise!) a priority for House Democrats. However, he strongly opposed making individually directed retirement accounts available as part of any reform.

Why? Here’s the beaut offered up by the minority leader: “I would be very much against individuals investing in anything they want . . . because then you’d end up with a lot of people in uranium stocks.”

Translation: the average American is too stupid to handle his or her investments. If folks vote for Democrats, one assumes that Gephardt thinks they’re smart. But he draws the line when it comes to them spending their own money. Instead he’d consider turning over part of our federal budget surplus for trustees of the Social Security system to invest.

So, when it comes to running Gephardt’s party, men rule, and when it comes to financial decisions, a “trustee” in Washington is superior to the individual investor.

The midterm elections are just past, and Gephardt quickly misreads our citizens. The precise problem with the left wing in America is that it takes the slightest encouragement from vote returns to seek to smother our nation in statism and accrete to itself gaudy powers funded by voracious taxation.

Gephardt soon will discover that talking down to the American people--especially in the perpetual whine that is his voice--will reward him in the manner it did George McGovern, Fritz Mondale and Mike Dukakis.

Then, even all those women and minorities his party takes for granted, and whose toil is unrequited, will not be sufficient to save him when his folly of disbelieving the common sense of each American becomes manifest.

Kenneth L. Khachigian is a veteran political strategist and former White House speech writer who practices law in Orange County. His column appears here every other week.