His 18-year-old daughters were in the audience, but they're not who George W. Bush was speaking to when he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in Philadelphia last night.

Sure, Bush asked his twins, Jenna and Barbara, to email him often when they go to college this fall.

And, as balloons and confetti swirled around him at the end of the show, he waved to the crowd while Ricky Martin's hip Latin beats pumped.

But when it came down to it, Bush largely ignored the issues that count most to girls and young women in his speech at the Comcast First Union Center during the close of the convention.

So now the question is: Will he also ignore them when he gets into office?

To the cheers of delegates from across the country, Bush vowed to "seize this moment of American promise. We will use these good times for great goals." He bagged on the Clinton Administration, continuously chanting, "They had their chance. They have not led. We will."

Who he really cares about
From fixing social security to ensuring that prescription drugs are available to every senior citizen who needs them, his goals seemed targeted solely at those ages 50 and older.

In a speech peppered with references to World War II, the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, Bush promised that if he gets to move into the White House, he would boost the amount of money directed to the military, reduce the number of nuclear weapons in America's arsenal, cut taxes and allow parents of public school students the option to use federal money to place their children in private schools.

"We will confront the hard issues," he said, "threats to our national security, threats to our health and retirement security, before the challenges of our time become crises for our children."

Where the girls weren't
At times, Bush focused on issues important to young adults, but steered clear of any initiatives that would improve the lives of young voters -- especially women.

Bush ignored Jenna and Barbara's friends and future classmates for obvious reasons -- baby boomers and seniors vote in droves, while citizens ages 18-24 traditional account for the lowest election turnout. Plus, how many of those who belong to the so-called Generations X and Y watch these conventions anyway?

When he finally did speak directly about issues that affect young women's lives -- pregnancy and drug use -- he promoted telling them what to do, instead of giving them tools to make sound decisions.

Bush said he would vote for a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions, and told the audience that he supported forcing pregnant teens to get their parents' permission before having an abortion.

"I know good people disagree on this issue, but surely we can agree on ways to value life by promoting adoption and parental notification, and when Congress sends me a bill against partial-birth abortion, I will sign it into law," he said.

What he failed to mention as that earlier this year the Supreme Court struck down a Nebraska law banning late-term abortions, the official medical term, on grounds that it put an "undue burden" on a woman's decision to end her pregnancy.

The money card
But those who listened carefully may have caught at least one pitch Bush targeted at his daughter's age group. He said he favored allowing young workers the opportunity to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in the stock market instead of relying on the government to manage their retirement savings under the current Social Security plan.

However, for young women that may not be good news. It has been noted that this strategy disfavors female workers who make less than men and as a result, have less to invest.

When Bush spoke of pumping money into the nation's schools, he also focused on what this would mean for parents, not students.

"Our schools must support the ideals of parents, elevating character and abstinence from afterthoughts to urgent goals," he said. "When a school district receives federal funds to teach poor children, we expect them to learn. And if they don't, parents should get the money to make a different choice."

Before the speech, the audience saw a movie that featured Bush family members telling the nation what a good president George W. would be. After he made his promises, a shower of balloons and confetti sealed the audience's excitement as well.

But only time will tell if many young women will get excited about a candidate who leaves her out off his acceptance speech. Nobody likes to be stood up, especially by a presidential candidate.

Lucy Maher is ChickClick's news editor.


Sidebar:

George P. Wows the Crowd

You wouldn't normally expect to see a member of People magazine's "most eligible bachelors" list grace the stage of the Republican National ConventionNunless of course, you're familiar with George W. Bush's 24-year-old Latino nephew: George Prescott Bush.

As the band played a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," George P., the son of Florida governor Jeb Bush, described his uncle's politics as "fearlessly inclusive." Bush, a graduate of Houston's Rice University, flawlessly mixed Spanish and English into his speech pledging his support of his uncle.

"My parents always told me that if you believe in a cause, how could you not get involved?" Bush said, explaining why he joined the campaign.

Focusing on one issue -- education -- Bush told stories about his experience teaching 9th grade in a rough high school outside of Miami for a year.

"I learned more from them than they learned from me," Bush said, describing his students as low-income kids often considered "lost causes."

"My experience with them is why I truly believe that the best thing for every kid is to have my uncle in the White House," he said to thundering applause.

Referred to as the "JFK Jr. of this convention" by commentators, Bush ended his speech with Spanish everyone could understand, even if they couldn't translate his words: "Viva Bush! Viva Los Estados Unidos!"

"What works is what works for the good of the people," he said, "not for the good of political careers."

-Virginia Pelley, ChickClick editing staff

Part of college life is making friends. But students could soon know more about their classmates than their majors -- mainly who on campus is a sex offender.

A bill passed this month by the House would mandate that colleges and universities notify students of any convicted sexual offenders on campus.

Under the Campus Protection Act, sex offenders have to notify their state officials of whether or not they were enrolled in higher education. The state would then pass that on to a campus' police or security. And then the school would publicize where the offender lived -- even if it was off campus.

"Under current law, millions of college students around the country have virtually no way to find out if their classmate, lab partner or roommate is a convicted sex offender," said Rep. Matt Salmon (D-Ariz.), who sponsored the bill. "Convicted sex offenders aren't allowed to conceal their identity when they are off campus. Clearly they shouldn't be allowed to conceal it when they are on campus."

Another federal statute known as Megan's Law, requires all convicted sex offenders to register with the state in which they live within seven and 30 days of being released from prison. The law was passed in 1996 and named for Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was abducted and abused by a repeat sex offender who lived in her neighborhood.

Salmon says his bill closes a loophole in the current law that allows these same offenders to go unnoticed on U.S. campuses. As it stands now, universities that receive federal money are currently not allowed to release information about their students.

But some say the plan has pitfalls. Civil liberties advocates have lobbied against plans to widely distribute sex offender registries in the past arguing that people could be misidentified or that they will spark vigilante attacks.

For their part, college lobbyists charge that the plan will be too burdensome for colleges and universities to match their records against the records of all 50 states.

"Nobody wants to see sexual predators on campus," Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, told the Chronicle of Higher Education. "But we are afraid that this approach will impose a significant and financial burden on all colleges and universities."

Others say that some sex offenders don't register in the first place since the penalty for doing so is lenient in some states.

"One of the problems is that there are very weak penalties for non-compliance of sex offenders," said Mark Klaas, founder of KlassKids, an organization aimed at stopping crimes against children. Klass' daughter Polly was abducted from her California home in October 1993 and murdered by a repeat sex offender.

In California, for example, it is a felony to fail to register. But in Maine, it is a misdemeanor. "Then there's the problem of individuals moving from state to state and not registering," he added.

The bill is not yet scheduled for Senate debate. But Salmon is optimistic it will pass.

"Parents already have enough to worry about when they send their kids off to college," he said. "They shouldn't have to worry about their child being victimized by a convicted sex offender hiding out on campus."

This article originally appeared on Chickclick's news channel, Shewire.com. Lucy Maher is ChickClick's news editor.

If you thought panty raids only struck sorority row, think again.

A new CD-ROM game called Panty Raider targeted at young men will let players strip models down to their underwear to satisfy aliens threatening the Earth. But critics say the game sends a bad message, and humiliates girls and women.

Parent's and women's groups have sent numerous emails to New York publisher Simon and Schuster to try and halt the release of the game later this month.

"These gender stereotypes are really corrosive and harming both our daughters and our sons," said Joe Kelly, executive director of Daughters and Dads, an advocacy group that started the email campaign. "The notion that women are just there to be objectified is dangerously unhealthy. It's the repeated message that how a girl looks is more important than what she is capable of doing."

However, Simon and Schuster Interactive says the game is just entertainment.

"'Panty Raider: From Here to Immaturity' is a humorous game, and like all comedy might offend some people while amusing others," the company said in a statement. "The over-the-top nature of its humor is a clear indicator that it is not meant to be taken seriously. Its intention is to make light of the many pervasive stereotypes that permeate our culture."

In addition to stripping models of their clothes, players can pop in breath mints, flash credit cards, and deliver "cheesy pick-up lines to lure models out of the woods."

"No self-respecting supermodel can resist these items," Simon and Schuster said in its press release.

While some may think the game is fun, others say it goes too far.

"It's the bottom of the barrel in terms of imagination," said Corless Smith, a San Francisco State University professor, who discussed the game last week in her "Women and the Media" class. "It's supposed to be ironic and over-the-top, but why is it that women are always victims in over-the-topness?"

Schuster says the game is targeted at "age-appropriate groups" -- and the Entertainment Software Rating Board, an independent organization that rates games, says the game is appropriate for players aged 17 and older.

Industry experts said teenagers will be drawn to the game, but don't think it's cause for concern.

"It's pretty unusual," said Amer Ajami, preview editor at www.gamespot.com. "I don't think there's been another game where you get a teenager who gets to decide how to dress naked models. It's something that needs to be taken lightly by grown-ups. It's just a game, and it's clearly comical."

Still, parents like Kelly say they don't get the joke.

"For them to say that it is [aimed at men] is a silly response," he said. "If this was a game for adults, it wouldn't be stripping the supermodels down only to their underwear."

This article orgininally appeared on Chickclick's news channel, Shewire.