A Few Surprises on the First Lady Front

Forget teachers.

Forget big labor.

Forget (as if you haven’t already) Reagan Democrats.

The Republicans are going for the biker vote now.

The biker chick vote.

Nothing should come as a surprise anymore during this presidential campaign season, and yet . . . who would have predicted Elizabeth Dole as a motorcycle mama?

Those of us sitting in “The Tonight Show” audience Monday evening could hardly suppress our delight when Jay Leno entered the studio on a motorcycle with Elizabeth Dole clutching his waist. In the great tradition of playing against type, Elizabeth Dole as Hell’s Angel is a whole lot more amusing than Elizabeth Dole as Oprah Winfrey.

And it was no less memorable to see her clad in jeans, a “Bikers for Bob” black leather jacket and a lacquered black motorcycle helmet. (Understand: Donning headgear when you wear a ‘do like Dole’s means you are automatically entered in the Good Sport of the Year contest. Or that you need protection because your husband’s campaign is going the way of Peter Fonda’s gas tank in “Easy Rider.” Kaboom.)

Elizabeth Dole was funny, if rehearsed. “I’ve come a long way,” she said, “from Harvard Law School to biker chick.”

Americans are confused about what they want in a first lady, but if there’s a “biker bounce,” it should be showing up in the polls about now.

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People seem to like and admire Elizabeth Dole, particularly after her virtuoso performance at the Republican convention. She came of age at a time when women were forced to hide their ambitions, or at least cloak them in traditional expressions of femininity, which seems to be something the electorate appreciates. With her Harvard credentials and honeyed Southern accent, the expression “steel magnolia” springs readily to mind.

But is she the sort of first lady Americans want?

A good number of Americans were flummoxed by the unvarnished aspirations of Hillary Clinton, who was never shy (until she was muzzled after the health care reform debacle) about the prominent role she plays in her husband’s administration.

Indeed, Hillary Clinton has been the most reviled first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. Yet, when asked recently what they want in a first lady, Americans gave pollsters for Redbook and NBC some surprising responses.

For starters, 39% say the ideal first lady is in her 40s, while 32% say her 50s. (Hillary Clinton is 48; Elizabeth Dole is 60.)

More than half--52%--say her most important role should be as a spokeswoman for domestic causes. Thirty-eight percent say she should be a hostess and traditional wife.

Sixty-three percent say she should publicly state her opinions on major issues.

Seventy-seven percent approve of the president and first lady showing affection (such as hugging each other and holding hands) in public.

Seventy-nine percent say the ideal first lady is somebody’s mom.

Sixty-five percent say they have no problem with the first lady holding a paid job outside the White House. (Dole has said she plans to return to her job as American Red Cross president, regardless of the outcome of the election.)

Fifty-nine percent say the first lady should dress not only appropriately, but fashionably.

And, now that the country is not obsessed with defending the free world anymore, most think she should change hairstyles regularly.

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Now here’s where it gets weird: When asked to pick among the last three first ladies the one who came closest to their ideal, Nancy Reagan came last, Hillary second and Barbara Bush--by a longshot--first. Bush also got the top spot on a list that went as far back as Eleanor Roosevelt.

Bush, of course, was in her 60s during her husband’s tenure as president. She did not publicly state her opinions on much except literacy. She was almost never affectionate with her husband in public. She didn’t change her hairstyle. She dressed in a matronly style. And she certainly was never in any danger of taking an outside job.

It is possible that Americans, somewhere in their gut, understand there will never be another first lady like Barbara Bush. It is also possible that, although they loved Bush, they are coming to accept in some important ways Hillary Clinton as an ideal.

In the unlikely event that her old man wins in November, this cannot be bad news for the biker chick.

* Robin Abcarian’s column appears on Sundays and Wednesdays. Readers may write to her at the Los Angeles Times, Life & Style, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053.