The other three throw their heads back and laugh. The four have been invited to dinner by The Detroit News to discuss what a Gore presidency would mean to women and the world, and their delight at Straus' joke is shot through with relief now that their candidate no longer seems to be going down in flames. Their man, they argue, is sharp and focused and extraordinarily well-prepared. They love Al, and they're nuts about Tipper. Drawn from a random list of Democratic women, they are a varied group.
Half live in Detroit, the other half in the suburbs.
The group splits evenly between divorced and widowed, and all have grown children. Detroiter Sherry Washington, the group's only African-American, owns a downtown gallery of the same name. Lanie Pincus, who with her late husband created and ran the legendary London Chop House, operates a consulting firm devoted to women's issues. I've never really seen a Republican who was that concerned. Whether parents should be able to take vouchers and use them for private schooling is an issue Michigan voters will decide this November.