Kali and the Dragonlady

With the conventions over and the presidential campaigns in full swing, voters are deciding whether Democrat Bill Clinton or Republican Bob Dole presents the best agenda for the next four years. Part of the decision process and the agenda, for both candidates, is their wives.

Underneath the smooth, polished wifely images of Elizabeth Hanford Dole and Hillary Rodham Clinton exist two effective, forceful women who are as hungry for power as are their husbands. Unfortunately, we still live in a political age when the raw evidence of a woman’s desire for power must be masked, perfumed and hidden behind her husband. It is unlikely that either Mrs. Dole or Mrs. Clinton ever will confess that she may be stronger and have more political savvy than her mate. After all, they walk the thin line that many married women must tread as they buttress the goals of their husbands while masking parts of their personalities to keep a certain measure of peace and calm at home and in the world.

And given these dueling tendencies, both women seem to represent the spiritual fusion of a goddess and a cartoon character.

An important Hindu deity, Kali, is the life-giving, nurturing mother who also devours her lover, Shiva, through a frenzied, hypnotic dance of death. Frequently depicted with splattered blood, wearing a necklace of human skulls and corpses for earrings, Kali usually has four arms holding a ladle and a bowl of food, symbolizing the duality and immortality of life.

The second figure is the villainous Dragonlady, created by cartoonist Milton Caniff in his “Terry and the Pirates” comic strip that ran from 1934 to 1973. Dragonlady was known for her sinister glamour and her ability to manipulate and exercise power. Except for Eleanor Roosevelt and to a lesser degree Nancy Reagan, recent first ladies and potential first ladies have mostly been of paper doll quality. They have been groomed, gracious and appropriately attired as they cut ribbons at various ceremonious events. Aside from involvement in minor social projects, they have mostly played insignificant roles. Now, as we witnessed from the controversy and hostility directed at Mrs. Clinton for her involvement in the national health coverage debate, the sand is shifting.

What was intriguing at both political conventions was watching Mrs. Dole pour on her ladylike, Southern belle charms as she glided through the room expressing her deeply held admiration and love for her husband, while a resurrected Mrs. Clinton stood before the Democratic delegates and reaffirmed her determination to remain in the political arena.

The manner in which Mrs. Clinton handled herself before Congress during the health care hearings and Mrs. Dole’s obvious influence both at the Republican convention and on CNN’s “Larry King Live” is a testimony to their raw intellect, zealous natures and past accomplishments. But much like either Kali, who both gives and takes life, or the Dragonlady, who is ruthless in wielding power in a cutthroat world, first-class political women must merge these two mythical representations.

During this campaign season, we have frequently been reminded that whoever captures the election will be the first president of the 21st century. But I’m more interested in how long it will take before women are allowed to reveal and relish all aspects of their character.

Furthermore, I believe that if the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he might modify his “I have a dream” speech, regarding his hopes that his children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, to mention gender.

I would, in a heartbeat, vote for either Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Dole for president. And speaking of heartbeat, it’s too bad the rules can’t be changed to allow either one of those women to succeed to the presidency should anything happen to her mate.