My deepest feminist support goes to my fellow woman, Elizabeth Hanford Dole. To my dismay, on Wednesday, Oct. 20, Dole dropped her bid for the 2000 presidential campaign. As of this time, she will be the fifth candidate to withdraw from the race — all before the first vote.
What bothers me most about this issue, is not the fact that a woman will not (surprise!) be elected President of the United States next year, but that her reason for abandoning bid was due to lack of revenue for her campaign.
According to the Los Angeles Times, after Dole compared George W. Bush’s $38 million campaign budget to her $900,000 — then figured the millions Steve Forbes is “dipping into” from his publishing career — she realized that her rivals would enjoy an approximate 80-1 cash advantage over her.
What makes this issue so disturbing is the light being shed upon our political system. We are witnessing a campaign in which, “He that has the most gold, wins.” It no longer matters how qualified or how much experience one has; instead, we have entered a time when cold, hard cash dominates without question.
What the average “Joe Six-pack” needs to be concerned with is the lack of equal and fair representation in national campaigns. If the only candidates that society has to choose from are rich men, how will we ever reach a time in which the elitists are not our only options?
It is also disturbing to live in a nation that is able to put man on the moon, but still cannot get a woman elected into higher office. To see Dole run for the presidency, and see her being taken seriously, was inspiring. The fact that she is no longer running due to money issues is a step backward.
To go beyond Dole, if this is the way the country continues to run its presidential campaigns-based solely on campaign financing-then it is not extreme to say that this country will never see a person of minority status elected President of the United States.
Although Dole did provide a stepping stone for women in regard to running for higher office, she also scratched the surface for issues that need to be faced. Campaign financing needs be less extreme. It should be possible for the rich, but also rational for the average person.
If things continue to run as they do, I suggest everyone clothespin their vote to either Bush or Forbes and get used to them; because we will see more men like them if such campaign finance figures continue to be tolerated.
It is understood that Dole could have planned her campaign earlier or gone about things differently. But the fact that this woman was taken seriously by the American people to be elected president overrides that. Susan B. Anthony is probably rolling over in her grave with the thought that money (of all things) made this woman withdraw from the campaign.
For some, the fact that Dole is a woman is irrelevant; but really, it is a crucial point. Dole created a legacy for future female candidates by making her run for presidency. It is quite sad that she could not have remained in the campaign to see how the voters would have responded to her. Perhaps, she would have been elected. What a day that would be to see a woman elected president.
Until then, however, I must fume with the thought that money stopped this woman, all while another photograph of Bush kissing a child he does not know (to get the vote) runs in the newspaper; and I will continue to be disgusted by it all.
Alisha Rosas, a sophomore journalism major, is arts and entertainment editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at rosasa@ulv.edu.
