Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

How many U.S. Senators have ever been without health insurance? Or ever had to suffer a difficult illness while uninsured?

My guess is not many. Yet our Congress is working to reform our health care system to provide coverage for those without insurance—a situation they have never experienced.

If elected, U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois Cheryle Jackson, would bring a fresh and necessary voice to health care reform and our public leadership as a whole.

Cheryle Jackson is currently serving as President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. She is the first female executive of the organization and during her time as President, she increased membership to 7,000 members and increased the League’s visibility and involvement in the city of Chicago.

From a young age, Cheryle understood the struggles that people faced as well as the importance of education, which contributed greatly to her successes with the Chicago Urban League later on in her life.

Her personal experience has shaped her views on health care reform. After being uninsured while enduring a grave illness, Cheryle has a deeper understanding of those who are uninsured. She is a strong supporter of the public option that will provide a government-run insurance plan to those who do not have insurance.

Cheryle is also determined to end the sexism that many insurance companies use in order to over-charge female customers and deny women coverage because of certain pre-existing conditions. With the recent loss of Ted Kennedy’s seat to Scott Brown, who promised to vote against President Obama’s healthcare bill, the need for strong voices to pass healthcare has never been more necessary.

At a time in which only 17 women serve in the U.S. Senate, there has been no greater need for more female voices. Women’s health hinges on the passage (or denial) of certain bills.

We need Cheryle Jackson to provide a stronger voice for women to ensure that our reproductive freedoms will not be taken away.

In a state that ranks 49^th for women’s political participation, Kim McMillan is truly a trailblazer.

She was the first female Majority Leader of the Tennessee State House, and now she’s running to become the first female Governor of the state.

When McMillan ran for Tennessee State House in 1994, there were only three women serving in the State Senate and 13 in the State House. With such a lack of female role models, what sparked McMillan’s motivation to run? Her children. She wanted to ensure they had every opportunity to be as successful as possible. She also realized the great need for female leadership in her state:

“I began to look at the state legislature and noticed there were very few women…and very few younger people. The last time I checked, we have a representative democracy and your state legislature should look like the population looks.”

With McMillan’s children being one and two years-old at the time, she faced questions and criticism about her decision to run. How will she do it? What about her law firm and husband? Her response was that every working mother faces the same challenging balancing act, whether they’re running for office or not.

“I wanted to show that you can do it. You can raise a family and have children who are successful. I tell women all the time when they ask me, ‘can you do it all’ – no you can never have it all. But you can do more than you think you can.”

She was also told, “Well, you’re a woman and that’ll be a detriment.” But despite these objections and being one of the few women in the state house, McMillan’s hard work, intelligence, and leadership earned her the respect of all her colleagues.

She was elected Majority Leader because everyone knew she would do the best job, regardless of her gender. However, she admits that being the underrepresented minority will always require you to work harder than others, and she promotes the idea of having all different voices represented in public office, including women.

“There are experiences and issues that women may have knowledge about that some of the male legislators just don’t have. It’s not because they don’t understand, it’s just that they haven’t dealt with or experienced it.”

For example, her first year in office there was a task force setup to tackle child care reform. But no one on the task force had young children, and all of them were men. McMillan thought that was a bit odd, so she took action to get onto the committee. She succeeded, and her experiences and ideas helped shape what probably ended up being a better reform for child care.

McMillan believes it’s important for women to step up and show that they can be successful to inspire even more women to get involved. But as we know, the political world continues to have prejudice toward women.

When I asked McMillan if she has encountered any sexism during her campaigns, she responded, “Oh, absolutely.” In fact recently, an anti-choice blog post criticized her hairstyle. She knows this kind of comment is made solely because of her gender, but doesn’t let it get to her.

“I believe that as women we can’t let that affect our efforts to move forward. Because it just doesn’t matter. I’m sorry those people don’t like my hairstyle, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m just going to keep moving forward and I’m just not going to let it affect my efforts to try to become governor of Tennessee.”

In regard to how heavily women candidates are criticized by their appearance, McMillan joked how if she were male, all she would have to do is buy six blue suits, some khaki pants and blue shirts: “Their biggest decision is what color tie am I going to wear?”

On the much more important matter of reproductive health choices, McMillan stated her beliefs in a very simple and true way:

“It is a decision to be made by the person who is actually being affected by that decision.”

In reaction to the issue of fundraising, McMillan admitted that people might be more likely to look at women candidates with less money more unfavorably than they would a male in the same position. However, she has always felt comfortable with her fundraising efforts.

“I’ve run seven races in the past and I have always had less funding than everyone else. I’ve never had a problem. I set goals that are reasonable. You don’t always have to have the most—you have to have enough to be viable.”

McMillan expressed gratitude for her Women’s Campaign Forum endorsement, and knows how much national support can mean to a campaign:

“Politics is a funny business, because oftentimes if people see that others believe in you, then they can believe in you too.”

McMillan is passionate about getting more women into public leadership, and knows we must overcome the ambition gap between men and women in running for office in the first place.

“It’s not that women are running and constantly getting beat, it’s that women don’t run in the first place. We have to tell women, you can succeed. You never know if you don’t try.”

And if there’s anyone who knows that women can succeed in a male-dominated field, it’s certainly Kim McMillan.

This post was submitted by WCF Fellow, Stephanie Glover.

On September 3, 2009 Martha Coakley announced her historic bid for the United States Senate. She is running to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward Kennedy and her victory will mean the first female senator from Massachusetts. Today, the Women’s Campaign Forum (WCF) enthusiastically endorses Martha Coakley’s candidacy.

Martha Coakley is an exciting candidate who will do great things for Massachusetts. As WCF President/CEO Sam Bennett said, “Martha Coakley has been a trailblazer for women in Massachusetts for twenty years. What she has achieved as Massachusetts’ first female Attorney General reaches far above and beyond the glass ceiling. She is the perfect candidate to carry the torch for civil rights and equality that Senator Kennedy fought so hard to advance and preserve.”

Attorney General Coakley has served the state of Massachusetts in a variety of capacities, as Attorney General, Middlesex District Attorney, President of Massachusetts District Attorney’s Association, and President of the Women’s Bar Association. Her twenty years of public service and potential as a influential woman in the United States Senate contributed to WCF’s endorsement. In response, Ms. Coakley said:

I am running for the U.S. Senate because I believe that the toughest issues facing women and the toughest issues facing the nation are one and the same. We need strong leadership to provide increased economic opportunity and fair wages. We need to fix our broken healthcare system, and we need to ensure that we truly have civil rights for all. The Women’s Campaign Forum has been at the forefront in bringing more women to the leadership table and I am honored to have their support.

Martha’s candidacy is historic because she would become the first female Senator from Massachusetts - but it’s made even more special because of her rich history as a champion for women.

Congratulations, Martha Coakley!

To learn more about Martha Coakley, visit her website.

This post was submitted by WCF’s Summer Fellows.

June flew by for WCF’s Summer 2009 Fellows!  We have been working on a variety of projects, including planning DC fundraisers and researching WCF-endorsed candidates.

Every Friday, we head out to explore Washington DC! We have recently visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History, Library of Congress and even took in a hearing the House of Representatives.  As WCF Fellows, we’re naturally all drawn towards women’s history, and there has been a lot of it to take in on our expeditions.  Take a look at a few of our pictures!

If this sounds like fun to you, and you are a college student, learn more about our fellowship program here or apply for a Fall 2009 Fellowship here!

According to ProgressOhio, candidate Jennifer Brunner’s campaign for U.S. Senate is off and running. ProgressOhio points out the significance of her funds mostly coming from individual donors:

This is important because, like President Obama’s early primary donors, Brunner’s first-quarter contributors can be expected to continue their support throughout the campaign.

ProgressOhio also gives us a fun fact about Brunner:

After serving as Ohio’s Secretary of State for just over a year, she was awarded the Profile in Courage Award by the bipartisan board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for fighting for needed election reforms related to voting machine reliability and security. The Profile in Courage Award is considered the nation’s most prestigious honor for elected public servants.

WCF PAC endorsed Brunner a couple weeks ago, and we look forward to learning more about her and supporting her throughout her campaign.

Much thanks to Anthony Fossaceca of Ohio Daily for their fabulous coverage of WCF’s endorsement of Jennifer Brunner.

Fossaceca calls WCF ‘one of the top women’s groups in the country’ and says our staff is ‘highly talented’ (muchas gracias, sir…we’re small but mighty).

“The fact that they are making this endorsement so soon is important and adds another layer of concrete to Brunner’s foundation.”

We’re all excited to follow WCF’s new batch of endorsed candidates as the elections approach. Keep checking back for more spotlights on WCF’s endorsed women currently in office and those running in 2009 and 2010.

With today’s announcement of the first big round of WCF endorsements for the new cycle, we’re pleased to focus on one candidate to offer a more in-depth look at her impressive background and why she’s decided to run for U.S. Senate. Look for similar profiles of other WCF endorsed candidates in the weeks to come.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) is running for U.S. Senate in the state of Ohio. Elected Ohio Secretary of State in 2006, Brunner is the first woman in the state’s history to serve in this capacity. She has since garnered national recognition for her efforts to make the state’s elections free, fair, open, and honest.

Brunner’s official announcement makes some great points:

Like most Ohioans, when I see problems, I look for solutions — solutions to meet our challenges so that we emerge stronger than ever. Too often we’ve seen the same-old campaign and same-old politicians return to Washington and fail to make the changes that will move us forward. We worked hard the past four years to elect new leaders that won’t ignore or belittle the problems we face in Ohio. That work must continue as we create new jobs that improve our communities by conserving energy, lowering health care costs and making our streets and highways safer.

Also, here’s an excerpt from the moving thoughts Jennifer posted herself on the Buckeye State Blog about why she’s running for office:

We must fix the damage that has been done to our economy. It is felt by everyone in Ohio and it can’t measured in some political poll — it’s felt by Ohioans losing their homes, losing their jobs, and facing the rising cost of health care. Now, more than ever, we need someone who will fight for everyone across the state and stand up to those in Washington who would rather bail out Wall Street CEOs than main street homeowners…. Washington doesn’t need another Senator who just shows up to vote. Ohio deserves a public servant in Washington who will generate ideas, show bold leadership and work with her colleagues to advance solutions. I am pleased with what we’ve done for Ohio so far; and I know I can do even more for our state in the United States Senate.

Jennifer quickly sends her message by not asking for the Democratic Party’s endorsement. Jen Nedeau, a blogger for Change.org’s Women’s Rights blog, noted that Brunner wants to move beyond party lines and instead ask for the support of all Ohioans.

Brunner is also a huge supporter of women’s issues. Take a moment to read the message in this article from The Advocate about why Jennifer is encouraging local women to get involved in her race.

According to studies, she said, family is the No. 1 reason women don’t run for office, followed by doubts about their qualifications and the fact they haven’t been specifically asked to run.

Jennifer suggested that women get started by joining political groups and working on other people’s campaigns.

We couldn’t agree more about the importance of women getting involved. We will be keeping a close eye on other great news coming out of the Brunner campaign in the weeks and months ahead.