"IF YOU GIVE US A CHANCE, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels." A loud round of applause greeted Ann Richards, then state treasurer of Texas and a rising star in the Democratic party, as she spoke these words at the 1988 Democratic national convention.

Two years later, the applause is over and the chance to perform is for real, as a record number of women seek top elective offices in a political season that has been dubbed the "year of the woman."

But while such optimistic phrases came easy last spring, now that Richards and her fellow office-seekers are heading toward the finish of their campaigns, finding a place in the male-dominated political establishment is proving no easy task.

When women candidates threw their hats into the ring last spring, political experts of all stripes predicted that the prevailing national mood would favor the female stereotype.

At a time when anti-government sentiment was running high throughout the nation, women were described as being "different"--political outsiders who could dramatically change the way politics is conducted.

And in a campaign year expected to revolve heavily around social issues like abortion and the environment, analysts speculated that the public would perceive women as having an added edge. In fact, several male candidates--Richard's opponent for the Texas governorship among them--were uncertain how to approach this new species of rival, and openly expressed discomfort about running against a woman.

But just when it looked like women might finally have an advantage, the game changed.

Now, in light of the Persian Gulf crisis and mounting fears of economic recession, "softer" issues have been put on the back burner, and once again, the "masculine" issues of national security and money are in the forefront.

In addition, deeply rooted gender sterotypes about leadership and a lack of cohesion among women voters are still proving them selves tough adversaries for female candidates. And despite all the media hype about the year of the woman, ultimately it is the voters--not the politicos--will decide if the phrase rings true.

"We're going down to the wire," says Lucy Baruch, a spokesperson for the Center for the American Women in Politics at the Eagleton Instititute at Rutgers University.

Nationally, there are a record 70 women running for Congressional seats this year--among them 24 running for re-election. Among the record 85 women running for statewide office, eight are gubernatorial candidates, with Richards and Dianne Feinstein of California waging serious and costly campaigns in two of the most politically important states.

According to the most recent polls, thegubernatorial races in which women are running inAlaska, California, Kansas, Oregon and Texas arenow too close to call. Women gubernatorialcandidates in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, andNebraska--where Kay Orr is seekingre-election--stand an outside chance of winning.

In Senate races, Patricia Saiki of Hawaii isleading a tight race, but Claudine Schneider inRhode Island and Lynn Martin in Illinois probablywon't make the cut.

In six of those eight states, more than onewoman is on the ballot. In fact, in California,voters could theoreticallty elect an all-femalegovernment if they crossed party lines to vote.

Here in Massachusetts, gubernatorial hopefulEvelyn F. Murphy did not make it through theDemocratic primary, but voters still have thechance to elect Marjorie O. Clapprood to replaceher as lieutenant governor.