Women and Politics

This post was submitted by former WCF Fellow, Mary Schilling, who is currently representing WCF on the Elaine Marshall campaign in North Carolina

My mother never took much of an interest in politics, but lately she has grown so frustrated with Washington and its corruption that she has written off the government altogether. And after my first weekend out on the campaign trail with Marshall, it was clear that my mother was not alone.

North Carolinians are tired of politicians finding their funding and their inspiration in all the wrong places. They need jobs, they need health care, and they need a real voice fighting for them in Washington, DC.

And as I continue to meet residents of the Tar Heel State, I hear over and over again how much they want Elaine Marshall to be their voice in the United States Senate.

Elaine Marshall has been a public school teacher, small business owner, lawyer, State Senator, and North Carolina Secretary of State. Respected and beloved, she has earned her reputation by always working hard for the underdog. As Secretary of State, she has created one of the most diverse offices in North Carolina, and she truly embodies every reason we need more women in government.

North Carolinians and Americans need Elaine Marshall in the U.S. Senate.

And many already know this. The only major state paper to endorse any candidate, The Charlotte Observer, chose Marshall back in April. Ken Lewis, who finished third in the May Democratic Primary, also endorsed her quickly and warmly after leaving the race.

Even Elaine’s opponent knows what a strong candidate she is, as shown by his desperate attempts to run a smear campaign of blatant lies in this week before the Democratic Primary Runoff Election.

This widespread support is, of course, fantastic for Elaine, and it’s also extremely encouraging for me—a young woman working on her first political campaign. But I have to say that the endorsement that has been most important to me, and one of the toughest for anyone in government to earn, is that of a middle-aged woman in New York—my mother.

Luckily, getting to know Elaine has only further convinced me of the quality of her character. Elaine is the sort of person who will pull over on the side of an interstate entrance ramp to run into the road and save a turtle—on the way home from a 48-hour nonstop campaign weekend.

She remembers everyone she meets after the initial introduction, and she knows the state of North Carolina better than her GPS. She is intelligent, experienced, quick-witted, and follows through on her word.

And for all of those reasons, I was excited to call my mother and say with pride:

I’m working on a campaign, but I’m not working for a politician.

She was impressed as I began to explain some highlights of Elaine’s tremendous career—winning legal battles for women’s rights, always speaking out against offshore drilling and the troop surge in Afghanistan, and standing up against big business to recover money for North Carolinians.

More importantly, I was able to say with complete confidence that I know that Marshall will do great things for real people when we get her to Washington.

But Washington insiders—the DSCC—have a long and powerful reach: They’ve come down to North Carolina in attempt to overturn the will of the people, giving her opponent $100,000 despite Marshall’s 9-point victory in the Primary. This is yet another example of a qualified woman being passed over and pushed out.

The people of North Carolina won’t have it. That’s why I’m here on the ground, representing WCF, fighting to make sure she doesn’t get left behind, and that the right candidate will be on the ballot in November.

Please visit Elaine’s website and see how you can help send this incredible woman to Washington.

Strange winds are blowing from Washington to Ohio to Hawaii.

In the Buckeye State, polls continue to show that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is hot on the heels of Lt. Governor Lee Fisher in the Democratic Primary Election for U.S. Senate set for May 4th.  This is a true testament to Brunner’s grassroots support in Ohio, considering the fact that her fundraising has been put in a choke-hold by the boys at the top.

Brunner is a popular statewide elected official who is well-respected as a reformer in the daunting realm of electoral oversight, yet somehow she has only encountered resistance and neglect from the party elite.

Meanwhile in Hawaii, State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa (D) will face former Congressman Ed Case (D) and Councilman Charles Djou (R) in a winner-take-all special election for U.S. Congress on May 22nd. With two viable Democrats running in a tight race, the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is worried that this heavily-Democratic district might slip away from them.

Although the DCCC generally stays out of primary races, Chairman Chris Van Hollen has indicated that they will not rule out an endorsement, and several sources have indicated that his organization is leaning toward Case.

This is perplexing to say the least. Hanabusa already has the endorsements of both Hawaii Senators and most major Hawaii labor groups, and has handily out-raised Case throughout the race. Hanabusa has served in the Hawaii State Senate for twelve years—she was the first woman to head either legislative house in Hawaii and is the first Asian-American women to lead a state legislative body.

In short, she is a viable and eminently qualified candidate with considerable local support. The only advantage Case seems to have is that he entered Congress in 2003 as part of the same cohort as some DCCC leadership—though we trust that such relationships would not effect the Committee’s decisions.

Both Brunner and Hanabusa are qualified, well-liked candidates who hold statewide leadership positions. The voters have already signaled their support in the polls – so why are the boys at the top holding back? Why do national committees continue to tilt the playing field in favor of male candidates, without clear justification?

And this certainly isn’t just a Democratic issue: Let us not forget how the National Republican Congressional Committee abandoned Dede Scozzafava in NY-23 last October, which cost them the race.

This trend of blocking and abandoning female candidates is greatly disturbing, to say the least. We must stand up and tell the old boys’ club: Let voters decide. The games stop now.