Mrs. President

"American Candidate," the reality television show that begins broadcasting in August, promises to help close the gender gap in U.S. politics by showing women as viable – if still virtual – presidential candidates.

Among the dozen candidates drawn from hundreds of applicants, at least four are women who made their faux candidacy public last month, as part of their assignment to plan a political rally in June.

"If you want to change culture, you have to have things on film and TV. Show women as leaders," said Marie Wilson, co-founder and president of The White House Project. The organization is New York-based and works to create a political and cultural climate in which the idea of a female president is considered normal. "Look, people are watching 'The Apprentice,' they're watching reality shows," Wilson added.

Structured like "Survivor" or "The Apprentice," the show pits the candidates against each other in a series of so-called challenges, captured by camera crews. Each week, the weakest candidate will be eliminated until the person voted best suited to occupy the White House emerges.

Even before its first episode airs, however, the show has run into its own challenge, in the form of outspoken would-be contestants, who say they were eliminated by a casting process for the show that appeared to be democratic and turned out not to be. The controversy even generated an anti-"American Candidate" Web log called "The AmCan Sham."

Candidates Selected in June

In June, about a dozen candidates were selected as finalists and began the 10-week competition to earn the title of "American Candidate." The winner will receive $200,000 and a televised forum to address the nation. After the show finishes airing, he or she is free to run a real race for the presidency.

The producers have not released the names of the dozen finalists, but several sent out news releases as part of their first challenge on June 8, in which they were given 32 hours and $100 to plan a political rally. As camera crews began following the contestants through this first phase of the campaign, producers counted heads at each event with the intent of eliminating the candidates with the smallest turnouts.

The show's finalists include Chrissy Gephardt, the lesbian daughter of former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt; a gay black man who used to work for President Bill Clinton, an animal rights activist, a public relations executive, a multi-ethnic member of the New York-based League of Pissed Off Voters and a radio talk show host.

Recruiting Women

The show's executive producers are all men, but its 11-person advisory board includes five women, according to the show's Web site. One of the female advisors is Wilson, who helped recruit female applicants.

"We had to get a lot more women in the process," Wilson said. "When they first put the word out, they started hearing from men. Men have seen themselves in this kind of role. More men than women wake up in the morning and think, 'I should run for office.'"

Some of the women who tried out for the show, however, have been soured by a process that began in January, when a Showtime producer, R.J. Cutler, began recruiting applicants.

"I think it's ridiculous now," said Medea Benjamin, "if it's just a couple of guys sitting around and deciding who looks good on camera." According to the show's Web site, applicants were encouraged to set up personal pages on the site and rally support from online visitors who could endorse their chances of making it onto the show by clicking their "Support Me" icons.

Benjamin, a human rights activist and member of the Green Party, thinks she should have been selected to compete on the show because her Web page received 4,324 "votes," more than some of the show's finalists.