Ms. Elizabeth Dole last week ended her trailblazing bid for the U.S. Republican Party's presidential nomination. Hers was the first serious run for the presidency by a woman in either party. Yet Ms. Dole's withdrawal from the race highlights not only the failure of American voters to take a woman candidate seriously, but also a factor even more important than sex in U.S. politics -- money.
Admittedly, her candidacy was always a long shot. Ms. Dole, who left her job as president of the American Red Cross to run, served as secretary of labor and transportation in Cabinets during the 1980s and was also a member of the Federal Trade Commission. That she was best known as the wife of Mr. Robert Dole, the former Senate leader who captured the GOP nomination in 1996 and was beaten by President Bill Clinton, is a sad -- but telling -- commentary on the state of women in American politics. Most observers calculated that Ms. Dole was campaigning for the vice-presidential slot, even though she hotly denied the suggestion.
Her withdrawal was unexpected. Ms. Dole surprised poll watchers by finishing third in the Iowa straw poll in August. While that might not have been enough to rejuvenate a flagging presidential bid, it was thought to have given her hope for a slot on the final ticket, especially if the GOP was serious about wooing moderate voters.