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What's not said about Pam speaks volumes
© St. Petersburg Times Maybe you've noticed this already, but underneath the stale responses to the same old questions, there's something refreshing about this campaign for mayor. I have not heard anyone say he or she is or is not voting for Pam because she is a woman. The people I speak to are mostly women because I work at home, so exercise and Publix are my daily social venues. Some of the women I talk to are voting for Pam; others are vacillating between Pam and Frank. One is for Charlie, one is considering Bob. The men I've talked to are voting for Pam or Frank. They all have their reasons. Sex -- or gender, that cleaned-up term we like to use now -- has not been an issue at all. It's Frank who wants Ye Mystic Krewe to let in women, not Pam. It's Frank whose supporters include a group called Women for Sanchez. It's Bob who left a candidate forum early to tuck his daughter in bed. "I'm going home to that little baby," I believe were his words -- words a female candidate would utter only if she had been drugged. It's gotten to be sensitive, sexy even, for a daddy to say he's going home to put his child to bed, but for a mommy, it's still political death. It's so, well, just like a woman, isn't it, too split in her devotions to be an effective leader, not reliable to be any place at any given time -- "What if her kid gets sick?" Pam's kids are teenagers, so no early curfew for her to do any tucking in; she probably goes to bed before they do. Yet, for a woman, even having older kids can be seen as a liability. Remember all those apocryphal stories after Karen Hughes, President Bush's adviser, left Washington so her son could go back to high school in Texas -- and her husband back to his law practice there? We haven't heard any related backlash against Pam. As far as I can tell, she has kept her family in the background. I don't even know what her husband does, and unless he's selling deals to the city, I don't care. The qualities attributed to Pam in endorsements in both newspapers are strictly unisex: independence, leadership, courage, confidence, candor. No one, thank heavens, has intimated that because Pam is a woman she is more sensitive and conciliatory than a man. I mean, look at Condoleezza Rice. Nor does Pam seem to be the kind of woman allowed into a position of power because the men behind the scenes know they can push her around. Fourteen months ago, before anyone except Bob was running for mayor, former USF president Betty Castor and her daughter, Kathy Castor, gave a women's lunch. The guest list was a Who's Who of Tampa women in politics. "Look at all the power in this room," someone said. I looked around the room and saw former Mayor Sandy Freedman, former County Commissioner Phyllis Busansky, former state legislator Helen Gordon Davis. The word "former" hung way too heavy in the air. What had happened? I flashed back a few years more to a reception on Davis Islands for Emily's List, the political network that raises money for female Democratic candidates, in this case, Sandy Freedman. She was running for U.S. representative against two other women -- Phyllis Busansky and Pat Frank -- and Jim Davis. See who won. Things looked a little bleak. In line for tuna salad and fruit at the Castor luncheon buffet, a guest I was talking with excitedly grabbed my arm and turned to introduce me to someone who'd just got in line behind us. "This is Pam Iorio," she said. "Our next mayor." Pam just smiled and said hello. -- Sandra Thompson is a writer living in Tampa. She can be reached at tampa@sptimes.com . City Life appears on Saturday.
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