new column:

"Speaker, She Wrote"

I was watching an old episode of "Murder, She Wrote" from January of 1985 entitled "Capitol Offense" the other day. In this episode, the congressman from the district in Maine which included dear sweet Cabot Cove had a heart attack and died suddenly soon before he was set to retire. Our favorite sleuth Mrs. Jessica Fletcher was appointed to replace him for an interim of only a few weeks while the 'real' politicians fought it out in the primary and general.

Mrs. Fletcher didn't want to take the appointment and strongly stated "I'm not a politician" but the governor's spokesman said that is exactly why she was needed at this time. The governor wanted someone who wouldn't seek the seat or think of a larger career in politics. She did indeed take the appointment, but only because her state needed her and it was only for a very short interim time. And, of course, while in Washington, she had a murder to solve in between taking on corporate interests, saving the environment, and winning applause for her speechifying during a committee hearing.

Our country's history of women in politics has often been seen as this. The history of our Congress is laden with a number of women who were simply interim appointments after their husband died who would hold the seat until a different man, a 'real' politician, would seek the seat. Women often didn't see themselves as politicians, let alone seek office at all. It hasn't been until recent years that these facts have been changing. The Center for American Women in Politics has terrific information on this history, from the beginnings to the recent election, on the status of women in politics around the country.

California is ahead of the curve nationally and is lucky to have two female Senators. But my first experience with a female Senator from my home state of Missouri was in 2000 when Mrs. Carnahan, the wife of the newly and posthumously elected Mel Carnahan, was appointed to fill his Senate seat. Everyone still called her Mrs. Carnahan, even though she was of course a Senator now. In fact, in the episode of "Murder, She Wrote" I took note that everyone in Washington called her Mrs. Fletcher, including staff and lobbyists and fellow congress people, even though her new title would of course be Congresswoman Fletcher. But no one ever called her that. When women have historically entered politics, they often are still seen as the wife of a male politician, not as a politician in their own right.

My second experience with a female Senator from my home state of Missouri begins in January when Claire McCaskill will be sworn in to a full term in the Senate she won in her own right. And what a difference and change that makes. No one refers to her as Mrs. McCaskill. They refer to her now as Senator. She will bring changes to DC and will add to the number of women in the Senate, up to a record 16. She follows in the footsteps of former Senator Carnahan, and former Senate candidate Harriet Woods whose fight for a Senate seat in the 1980's was seen by many around the country as one in which she would have won if the political world would have taken her seriously and donated the funding needed for the race. But this was back in the 1980's, when women were still often only seen as interim replacements, and were not taken seriously. Her lack of early money to make her a top-tier candidate led to what we now know as EMILY's List which supports Democratic women candidates around the country with money early in their campaigns to give them some traction. ("EMILY= Early Money Is Like Yeast, it makes the dough rise…"

Of course, the biggest sea-change in politics will be from right here in my home-City of San Francisco. Our Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi is the incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives and she has achieved this feat as a 'real' politician who dared to take on that glass ceiling (or as she calls it, the "marble ceiling" in Washington) and become the leader she is today. This is not an interim post and people know her as a real politician. She has been bringing change to Washington already, and the sea of women in this country who can now see a real role for themselves in politics is growing. No longer will women simply be seen as interim appointments with no interest in the state of the nation; they will see themselves as just as capable as men to lead and represent.

I believe that Mrs. Fletcher, aka Congresswoman Fletcher of Maine, would be mighty proud of this feat and would more than likely be a frontrunner for the election to fill the congressional seat in today's environment. Speaker-designate Pelosi, Senator-elect McCaskill, Senator Carnahan, all of the current and former female elected officials around the country from the top of the ticket on down, deserve true praise for paving the way. We, men and women alike, salute you.