U.S. Sen. (and possible future Texas governor) Kay Bailey Hutchison made that statement today in Dallas while on a tour to pump up sales of her tome (now in paperback) “Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers.” Specifically, she said this about why women might have an advantage in running for office:
I’m generalizing here, but part of it is the honesty and integrity issue. People generally think that women are incorruptible (inaudible). Secondly, I think women have done so well in the lower offices, they have shown that not only can they do it, but they do a great job, as a mayor, as a state representative, as a state senator. They’ve done well because they work hard. I think women have had, in my era, they’ve have had to work harder to get where they are. Whether it’s in law school or in education, we’ve had to do the extra measure of proving our self, and therefore, we’ve been successful in the offices we have won.
Jump for the details.
Hutchison spoke this afternoon at the Julia Sweeney lecture series at the Crescent Club. Interestingly, she said that her postulate of women candidates having an advantage over men might end at the post of president, because that job entails being commander-in-chief. Hutchison said she had a rough go of it early on in politics:
When I started running for public office, it was a real hurdle to convince people that I could do the job. That I was tough enough. That I could raise the money. That I would keep my word. They thought that I would be weak and I had to prove that if I said I would do something, that I would do it. Now, I would say there’s an advantage to being a woman. It’s totally reversed.
Given the jobs that white males are doing as Texas governor and U.S. president, even a ferret (doing double duty) might be an improvement.
