Thank you so much for providing deeper coverage of the White House Project, Meryl Ann. 

I wholly agree with Marie Wilson's sentiment that bringing women's perspectives to the policy tables WILL change everything.

by Rady Ananda (182 articles, 374 quicklinks, 49 diaries, 1718 comments [201 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 21, 2008 at 7:59:12 AM

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Thanks, Meryl Ann. As we think of women and power, of people and power, how can we address the confluence of power and authority? And of how sometimes they don't "confluence."

I address a subject common to MBA textbooks. When one has power, the next step is to know how to use it in order to gain authority. For example, voters can empower a person to become President, but once in office he/she must exercise judgment to gain enough authority to carry out his goals. (GW Bush probably slept in the day they discussed this.) Seriously, the question is what style of leadership will bring the results citizens (Board, in commercial terms) asked for.

I relate this to women in positions of authority, whether military, political or cultural. Take Ann Wright as an example. From being a girl in Arkansas, she grew into an officer in the Army and then into an American representative to other nations. She had some power, but she used it with real authority when she told her superiors that if they pulled out of Afghanistan to meddle in Iraq they would live to regret it.

I question women (men, if they want to be included) who believe having a woman in the White House will change dynamics of culture. I must confess I used to think so when I was barely out of college. If women were presidents there would be no war. Then I learned about Nehru's daughter, Golda Meir, and Benazir Bhutto....and I grew up.

Hillary's hand on the red phone did not console me. In fact, it made me a little apprehensive. Was it the same politics of fear we were working to overcome? I liked her better when she was working with Marion Edelman. However one saw the Clinton campaign, I think we learned that the hormonal divide exists. I'm just don't know which Clinton I am talking about.

A great enterprise, Meryl Ann, to put women and their possibly unique issues before the world. Thanks again.

by Margaret Bassett (45 articles, 2910 quicklinks, 43 diaries, 1854 comments [99 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 21, 2008 at 9:39:20 AM

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Then we have Cynthia McKinney

Enough said. There still are women running for the White (Man) House.

//:-)>-----------

by Michael Cavlan (15 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 538 comments [131 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 21, 2008 at 10:59:59 PM

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