Will women clean House in November?

Somewhere the late Ann Richards is smiling at this Women's eNews story. If the Democrats do take back the House this fall, it could be an important milestone for women in American politics. For starters, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is now the minority leader of the House, will be poised to be the first female speaker of the House in American history. That would make her second in line of presidential succession, after Vice President Dick Cheney. Allow me to repeat that. If the Democrats take back the House, and under some extraordinary circumstances both Bush and Cheney die or leave office, then Nancy Pelosi could be first woman President of the United States.

OK: let's not get too fanciful.

In any case, even if Dems do win the 15 seats they need to gain a majority in the House, Pelosi won't automatically become Speaker. The other Democrats would have to elect her. Still, here's why that would be significant: "If Pelosi does become speaker, she will be responsible for blocking out the congressional calendar, a power that will enable her to set the chamber's legislative agenda," writes Allison Stevens of Women's eNews. As chair of the party's steering committee, the Speaker also can make committee assignments, which can build (and break) lawmakers careers, assign bills to committees and appoint 9 of the 13 members of the powerful Rules Committee.

That's why Harriet Woods, former president of the [link|http://www.nwpc.org/| National Women's Political Caucus], says the first female Speaker would be significant: "In many ways a woman Speaker will be more important" than a female president, Woods said. "Just think of Newt Gingrich. It's really the closest thing we have to a parliamentary selection." In addition to Pelosi's big prospects, four Democratic women would be poised to take over as chair of major committees including House Rules, the House Intelligence Committee, the House Administration Committee and the Small Business Committee.

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