T IS SHAKESPEARE in Tallahassee, and America's postelection drama now features a Lady Macbeth. Someday, Florida's Secretary of State Katherine Harris could be mumbling to herself:
''Out, damned chad! Out, I say! One; two; why, then, 'tis time to do 't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?''
Power and ambition continue to collide darkly in the Sunshine State. The men who would be president smile for the cameras as they claw each other viciously in a do-or-die effort to secure Florida's 25 Electoral College votes.
But ambition is gender-neutral; it is not limited to those who seek the highest office in the land. It is on the faces of the hordes of lawyers, consultants, and media people who invaded Florida more than a week ago and show no desire to depart. And it is on the face of Katherine Harris, Florida's ghoulishly made-up secretary of state.
Her mask of mascara and eye shadow cannot hide the obvious. Ambition empowers her to hide behind the letter of the law and thwart the spirit of the Constitution.
Forget the glossy red lipstick and form-fitting suits. Harris is playing politics like a man and no doubt expects to be rewarded in kind.
One can imagine the conflicting political and legal analyses applied by this granddaughter of a citrus baron who is now part of American history.
Should she take the long view and exercise her discretion in a way that allows late-counted ballots to be figured into this too-close-to-call presidential election? That would make her a heroine to the voters - and to Democrats - but a pariah to Republicans.
Or, as an ally of Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and a supporter of Governor George W. Bush of Texas, should she go where her loyalty naturally leads her and hold fast to a conservative interpretation of the law and its deadline for counting ballots?
Not surprisingly, Harris opted for the immediate gratification of pleasing her political cohorts. In doing so, she acted within the law, even if law is the last thing motivating her.
How fascinating and ironic that women like Harris and Theresa LePore - the Palm Beach County elections supervisor who OK'd the controversial butterfly ballot - are playing pivotal roles in a national drama dominated by emulous men.
In this presidential election still without end, the face of democracy is in the spotlight. And when it comes to democracy's power brokers, that face is mostly white, male, and aging - make that ancient if you're talking about former Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
Clearly, the party of the people needs new people. For the Democrats, politics is still all in the family. William Daley, Gore's campaign manager, is the son of legendary Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. The Democrats' notion of diversity continues to be Jesse Jackson even though his efforts to rile up alleged victims of the butterfly ballot are an insult to those whose right to vote was truly violated in the past.
With female aides like Karen Hughes speaking for the Bush campaign, the Republicans actually wear a thicker veneer of diversity. The Texas governor bolsters the image with Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. But during the campaign the real power brokers behind Bush were retreads from his father's administration, such as vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney and former secretary of state James Baker.
And now there is Katherine Harris. She is exerting her power to foil Al Gore and the Democrats. Her decision could be overturned by the courts. Either way, she represents the partisan penchant to fulfill ambition and win at all costs.
In politics, that is fair play. But in choosing a narrow interpretation of Florida law, Harris is also choosing to disenfranchise thousands of Florida voters. And someday, that may not be so easy to rationalize, even from a comfortable spot in a Bush administration.
If Bush prevails, Harris may surely earn a political reward.
But as the witches in Macbeth chant at the outset of the play:''Fair is foul and foul is fair... ''
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.
