"I'm just not sure a woman can do it." That's the comment too many women candidates have heard, particularly when they're running for governor. Even women say that! A new bipartisan study by The White House Project points out something women candidates already know too well. Many voters think women are less effective and just not tough enough to do the job.

The study confirmed that women are judged more harshly than men. They have to prove themselves with a solid track record, clear policies and tough decision-making. Though the 2002 election did not add a lot of women to the ranks of top political office holders, it did propel a number of women into key leadership positions both nationally and in Colorado.

Here at home, the Colorado House of Representatives elected its first woman Speaker, Lola Spradley, a Republican from Beulah. The House Minority Leader is also a woman, Democrat Jennifer Veiga, of Denver. These two women will head the State House for the next two years, providing voters an excellent chance to watch women leaders at work. Given Colorado's disastrous financial condition and sagging economy, Representatives Spradley and Veiga will need all their skills to steer a better course for Colorado.

In Congress, Democrat Nancy Pelosi is the first woman to serve in either party's top leadership position. Republicans charged that she is too liberal to lead, which seems rather odd since they never found Representative Tom DeLay of Texas too conservative to be a leader. Representative Pelosi is known as a smart, tough, seasoned legislator who can work across party lines while standing up strongly for what she believes.

With both houses of Congress and the White House in Republican hands, Ms. Pelosi has been given a very difficult hand to play. She must work with the Republican majority on key legislation if Democrats are to have any influence. She must also get her diverse caucus to specify clear Democratic positions on critical issues. And, she must begin recruiting Democratic candidates for the 2004 elections. She'll be subject to carping and criticism all the while. Let's hope she is judged just as any man in her position would be judged-on her accomplishments.

This year, ten women ran for governor. Although the number of women governors increased by only one, from five to six, four women won their governors' races. Three beat Republican men, while one beat a Democratic woman. Their races were very close, demonstrating how difficult it is for women to win a chief executive's seat. But, close or not, they won.

These women have a chance to show a doubting electorate that women can not only lead, but lead with imagination, character and decisiveness. One of these governors-elect, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, will get a lot of press attention as governor of a large state that is important in the 2004 presidential election. She won on her record of solid achievements as Michigan's Attorney General, a credential that more and more women across America are earning.

While the other three women governors'-elect are from smaller states, they are equally accomplished. Linda Lingle, the Governor-elect of Hawaii, served two terms as Maui County Mayor and narrowly lost an earlier governor's race. In Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius has been the highly regarded Insurance Commissioner, a job made more difficult by the skyrocketing costs of health insurance. And, in Arizona, Governor-elect Janet Napolitano has been the well-respected, tough-minded Attorney General.

These new women leaders deserve neither less nor more scrutiny than their male counterparts. Nonetheless, as something of political oddities, they will be watched closely to see if they succeed, if they're strong and forceful, and, of course, if they're feminine at the same time. I wish them all great success. I hope they earn press accolades. I want them to be recognized as strong leaders, not just as women leaders. Maybe then, the next time a woman seeks that top leadership position or the chief executive's office, Americans will say, "Of course, a woman can do it."