Pelosi represents a new era for female politicians

On Nov. 7, 2006, Rep. Nancy Pelosi was re-elected to represent her California district, and… On Nov. 7, 2006, Rep. Nancy Pelosi was re-elected to represent her California district, and on Nov. 16, the House Democrats unanimously selected her as speaker-elect of the House of Representatives. The speaker of the house is the presiding officer, and is officially elected when the new session of congress begins. This is a position of prestige, and for the first time, a woman is poised to accept the gavel. In January, she will not only become one of the most influential people in the country, but the most powerful woman the nation has ever known.

Rep. Pelosi was first elected to congress in 1987 and has never faced any serious opposition. She represents a Democratic stronghold and has received an average of 81 percent of the vote in her ten elections.

Although women have slowly begun to emerge in leadership positions, the government remains a profession dominated by the prototype politician, an environment where women must be twice as smart, work twice as hard and create their own opportunities.

In 2001, Pelosi was elected House minority whip under then-Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, becoming the first woman to hold this position. Following the resignation of Gephardt in 2002, Pelosi was elected minority leader. She emerged as a leader in the party and has rightfully been chosen as the speaker-elect; pushing her further into the once male-only locker room of American politics.

The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 places the speaker of the house third in the line of succession. The act, passed under President Truman, actually returned the speaker to the line of succession and ahead of the president pro tempore of the Senate. In January, Pelosi will not only become the first female speaker, but her position will put her closer to the presidency than any other woman.

In the last two presidential administrations, we have seen women take their place in the line of succession. Madeline Albright became the first female secretary of state during the Clinton administration, and Condoleezza Rice is our current secretary of state. The secretary of state is fourth in line following the vice president, speaker of the house and president pro tempore of the Senate.

Although both Madeline Albright and Condoleezza Rice are intelligent, deserving and well-respected women, there is a fundamental difference in the importance of a female speaker of the house. Not only is the speaker two notches from the Oval Office, but the speaker of the house is also a member of Congress. She must, like her 434 counterparts, win an election in her district. The House of Representatives must then elect her as its presiding officer. Because the speaker of the house is not a political appointee, she works directly for the people and is held accountable by the public.

The American people have made it very clear that the country is ready and willing to accept powerful female politicians. In a mid-term election that cost the Republicans control of both houses of Congress and a majority of the governorships, it became obvious that the public is searching for a new direction. Nancy Pelosi is a strong leader, and she is charting a course of change for the country.

She is a power player in an arena where women have been left on the sidelines for many years. She not only represents a new direction, but she represents the political aspirations of all women.

Although I do not agree with every position of speaker-elect Pelosi, I too believe that now is a “time for change.” It is time to change a policy in Iraq that has come at the cost of 2,872 American lives. It is time to address domestic issues, like the fact that 44 million adults in this country cannot read a newspaper, or that one in six American children are born into poverty.

What will happen in the 110th United States Congress is unclear at this point. Am I certain that Nancy Pelosi is going to be the force of change the country has asked for? I am not. But I am optimistic, and I am willing to give her and the newly elected Congress a chance.

What I do know is that on the evening of the State of the Union address, I will watch and listen as the clerk of the House of Representatives, for the first time in the history of the United States, announces “Madame Speaker, the president of the United States.”

E-mail Kimberly at kns12@pitt.edu.