By CNOW President Michelle Dewlen

Months have passed since the election, but one aspect of the election is quite clear. Women again made the difference and trends indicate that we will continue to exert great influence over the entire election process.

Both campaigns courted the women's vote and for good reason. Seven million more women than men are registered to vote according to the National Women's Political Caucus. In fact, 67% of women are registered to vote as opposed to 50% of men, and women make up 75% of Democratic and 65% of Republican party activists.

Fifty-four percent of women voted for Gore. And women played a key role in electing women governors and senators, making the United States Congress more pro-choice overall. In addition to sending more women to Washington, women continued to make the Senate less and less of an 'Old Boys Club' with milestones in several states. Hillary Clinton, Debbie Stabenow, and Jean Carnahan will be the first female senators from New York, Michigan, and Missouri respectively. This is progress. Women voters are changing the way political advisors market their candidates ---they market them to us.

But while these advancements show impressive rates of change, statistics on the overall political landscape still show that women are grossly under-represented.

For example, statistics show that the number of women governors rose by 25% this year---but that's only an increase from 3 to 4 out of 50 governors. The numbers in the Senate tell a similar tale: our participation rose 33%, but we still comprise only 12% of the Senate. Looking past the statistics, the absolute numbers still tell the same story- --women are far from gender equity. Even 1992, 'The Year of the Woman', was more of a milestone than an historic triumph---we rose from 6% of Congress to 10%, and still hover just above that point today. In state legislatures across the country, women's representation remains at 22%, according to the Center for American Women in Politics.

In fact, in many states, the number of women elected officials is declining!

Women can't afford to get complacent. We have too much to do. The historic triumph will come when women comprise 51% or more of Congress and of other elected positions. Can you imagine the outrage and media blitz that would occur if the current situation was reversed? If Congress was 88% female?

More women register to vote, vote, and participate in party activities than do men. So why, with all this involvement, activism, and attention, isn't the number of women elected officials rising proportionately to our level of participation?

The reason we aren't better represented is that women don't run for office with the same frequency as men. We must identify, cultivate, support, and encourage women to run for office. We must help them overcome financial obstacles and push for effective campaign finance reform. We must continue to point out to the parties how many women vote. We must convince the parties that women candidates are qualified, competitive contenders who can win elections.

Without female candidates for office we are left with superficial pandering from candidates. We can't fall for the marketing; we must instead demand substantial focus and action that deal with issues important to women. George Bush's 'W is for women' tour, ironic and offensive on too many levels to mention here, didn't, for example, demonstrate how Bush would make women's economic equality a priority (which, according to the Center for Policy Alternatives, is our number one concern). Women shouldn't consider candidates who don't make our concerns a demonstrable priority-and we certainly shouldn't consider candidates (like Bush) who lack any knowledge of the Violence of Women Act!

Bush's 'women's tour' did, however, show the importance of our votes to both campaigns. Although this tour did not translate into big wins for Bush among women, it did help elevate our agenda. First, it forced the Democratic Party not to take women's support for granted. (In fact, the gender gap in this election was smaller than expected.) Second, it may have softened the GOP's stance on some of issues. The fact that they were willing to court our vote this year is noteworthy. Perhaps the next courtship will contain some real change in policy toward our issues.

Cultivating candidates, working for campaign finance reform, and continued activism will help American women achieve more gender equity in politics---and elsewhere.

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