Ms. President Twinkle

Tom Shales, style columnist of the Washington Post, demonstrates the very concern I raised in my recent post, "Commander in... Chieftess?" In yesterday's column, Shales lauds actress Geena Davis, star of ABC's new primetime drama, "Commander in Chief," saying:

Geena Davis can veto my legislation anytime. Starring as the first woman to hold the highest office in the land, Davis reminds us what we have missed in most of our past, real-life presidents: cuteness. She's got a twinkle in her eye, a twinkle in her smile, a twinkle everywhere. She's President Twinkle -- just what we need to tame the extreme, charm the militant, inspire the troops.

My initial reaction to this statement was that of alarm. Such an approach reduces the presidency to nothing more than a beauty pageant. And yet, the indubitable Mr. Shales was miles ahead of me, saying:

Davis is [a] tantalizer all sublime. Maybe the presidency should be a beauty pageant; it's hard to imagine that the results would really be that much worse than we get already.

This is exactly what we do not need. In a time that requires increasingly careful thought and cautious action, too many Americans, much of whom are already fed up with the Iraq war and President Bush, will consider a female Hillary to be a great improvement. While I do not see this moving the most loyal of the party faithful, it will have a profound effect on the ever-growing category of the independent and moderate conservative.

Clinton for 2008. Vote peace. Vote cute.