Yet the issue that has gotten NOW more publicity than it’s had in some time-the case of Andrea Yates, the Houston woman who murdered her five children-makes Gandy and others nervous. Is she a sympathetic figure or not? Should opponents of the death penalty adopt her case and make her a cause celebre? The NOW chapter in Houston forced the issue when it spoke out in defense of Yates, blaming postpartum depression for her heinous act and urging donations to her defense fund. The national NOW had not said much about Yates, following its tradition of not getting involved in the defense of an individual unless there is some larger principle at stake.
Gandy points out that every NOW chapter is independent. The Houston women are all volunteers; and they didn’t check with her before taking a stand. Nevertheless, NOW is suddenly involved in a hot issue. Conservative-leaning pundits took to the air waves to criticize the Houston chapter for “scaring” women into thinking their children were potentially at risk if they felt a little blue after giving birth. One cable-network commentator said it was “disgusting” the way NOW was “exploiting” this woman. Another said that if death-penalty opponents used Yates to advance their cause, they would be making a mistake.
Gandy is mystified at how the debate had broken down into liberal and conservative camps. “If anything, I thought conservatives would embrace her,” she says. Yates was active in her church, home-schooled her children and was clearly devoted to her family until something went horribly haywire. “I don’t see how we can say she’s an evil person. She’s a mentally ill person,” Gandy concludes.
NOW’s entry into the debate made death-penalty opponents cringe as well. “With NOW getting involved, it makes it more likely that the fight will break along gender lines-men vs. the femi-Nazis,” says one activist. Commentators are skeptical that postpartum depression is a valid defense against the death penalty. Almost all women (80 percent) experience “baby blues” after giving birth; a minority (10 percent) have symptoms that last longer than two weeks. Yates had attempted suicide four times, she had been prescribed powerful antipsychotic drugs, her doctor and her husband thought her illness was under control. Is the fact that it wasn’t evidence of her psychosis-or of her culpability?
The president of NOW’s Houston chapter lives in the same county of Texas as Yates. Harris County has sent so many people to death row that if it were a state, it would rank No. 3 in the country in executions behind Virginia and Texas itself. Seeking the death penalty from the outset insures a jury that is more pre-disposed to meting out the ultimate punishment. Potential jurors who cannot in good conscience condemn somebody to death are automatically stricken from the jury pool. “You get a stacked jury,” says Dianna Wentz, state coordinator of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project. “There are 12 people looking at you who support the death penalty.”
At a late-August press briefing for reporters, Gandy pointed to an easel with a list of almost a dozen issues where NOW would like to have an impact in Washington. She lamented the media’s preoccupation with flashier scandal coverage and pleaded guilty to “using” the Yates case to publicize the seriousness of postpartum depression in the same way the death of Nicole Brown Simpson focused public attention on domestic violence. NOW has ventured into the media spotlight with the right message, but because of the horrific nature of her crime, Yates may not be the right messenger.
GOVERNOR GORE?
Nobody seems to know what Al Gore is going to do, least of all Gore himself. But rumor has it that the former vice president may run for governor of Tennessee as part of a political rehabilitation. He would then be tanned, rested and ready to carry his home state in a future presidential run-assuming he wins the statehouse, that is.
Building a home base is essential to Gore’s future national prospects. If he doesn’t run, he’s got to help elect a Democrat next year when Republican Don Sundquist steps down because of term limits. Former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen is the current Democratic favorite. Tennessee pols are scratching their heads at the notion of Gore for governor. “The last thing he needs are more government credentials,” says one strategist. “He needs to get out in the world and do something.”
Gore supporters in Washington are equally perplexed at the mixed signals the former veep is sending. Tipper is said to be opposed to another presidential run, but those who know her well say that’s hogwash. “She’s known since she was 17 that he wanted to be president. She would go to the moon with him if that’s what it took.” As for the beard, one long-time friend says whether people like it or hate it, “Anything that draws attention to Al Gore’s appearance is a bad thing.”
