Just as it took an unabashed California chick to do what no GOP or Democratic pol could do-outfox Bill Clinton-Naomi Wolf now has done what no pundit could ever do: explain what makes official Washington tick.
It all boils down to the uneasy coexistence of alpha and beta males. There you have it. My guess is this is no shining revelation to most women, who begrudgingly and bemusedly play along with primal politics and make the best of it.
All this probably would have eluded us had we not learned about Naomi whispering sweet little nothings about earth tones and such into Al’s ear-first at $15,000 a month and later reduced to $5,000 a month by new Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile.
Why heck, you know what Tipper would say: “Behind every good man is a lipstick feminist.” And it’s working. Al now is beginning to strut his stuff.
For the past seven years, Big Bill has played alpha. (In my neighborhood, Pikachu is king.) And the betas? There are many. Some are content with their lot; others want to be alpha. Wolf thinks studious Al is too good a beta and not hungry enough about wanting to be alpha.
Alpha antics also help explain wireless politics. Think about it. First it was competition between A and B cellular carriers. And then came the battle between A-and B-block personal communications services licensees. C, D, E and Fs don’t even register as betas, if you go by the order of FCC auctions.
The real alpha wireless, judging from Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association lobbying last week, is Nextel Communications Inc.
CTIA, which not so long ago sanctimoniously chided the FCC for cutting a backroom licensing deal with Nextel, was busy on the Hill last week trying to cut a deal of its own. Why? Because of Nextel lust. Mobile phone giants feared Nextel was about to outsmart and outmaneuver the powerful lobbying juggernaut that is CTIA.
But CTIA, to the FCC’s and White House’s chagrin, appeared to kill legislation to reclaim and re-auction licenses of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.
There’s much for CTIA members to envy of Nextel, what with its skyrocketing stock and lobbying coups at the FCC and Justice Department. What hurts, of course, is Nextel is not a CTIA member.
