Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Sophie Shulman, WCF Communications Fellow

Earlier this week, Politics Daily released its “The Next 10 Women to Watch in Politics” list, highlighting women—other than Sarah Palin—who are likely to gain national attention in the upcoming elections. WCF-Endorsed Candidate, Terri Sewell, made the list as she campaigns for the opportunity to be the first elected Congresswoman from Alabama.

But Sewell’s impressive leadership isn’t news to us. She’s been on WCF’S list since the early days of her campaign, and we’re thrilled that she’s looking so strong heading into today’s Democratic runoff. Running in the heavily Democratic 7th district, today’s victor will likely win the general election in November. And, according to Chris Cillizza at the Fix, Sewell is the favorite to win. Indeed, Sewell was the vote leader in June’s primary, winning 36.8% of the vote. She’s also raised over seven times the amount of her opponent, Sheila Smoot.

Since her victory in June, Sewell has been collecting endorsements across the country. The Birmingham News Editorial Board recently came out in support of Sewell, arguing that:

“Sewell has the potential to be a fine, history-making congresswoman.”

She has also received campaign contributions from illustrious donors such as U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, showing Sewell’s national appeal and her proven record on progressive issues. Very early in her candidacy, Sewell also earned a ringing endorsement from women’s rights icon Lilly Ledbetter, who gained national fame for promoting pay equity in the workplace:

“Just as I was honored to support President Barack Obama for his historic election, I am happy to support Terri Sewell in her historic race to be the first woman in Alabama elected to Congress. She is best candidate to fight for the rights of all. My regret is that I can not vote for her but I can encourage others.”

These amazing women have reached out on Sewell’s behalf because they know that she’s the kind of woman we need in Congress—one who’s willing to fight for women’s issues, as she’s done throughout her legal career and in her personal life. But Sewell has also received help from Alabama’s elected officials and the people of Alabama—because she was born and raised in Selma and has shown her deep connection to her future constituents.

Here at WCF, we’re also extremely proud of Terri Sewell, and excited for her to shatter the next glass ceiling and become Alabama’s first elected Congresswoman. For months we’ve been working to help Sewell reach this point—and now’s the time for us to reach out, support Sewell, and support women everywhere.

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.

Sometimes I’m surprised at the thoughts that spring into my head when I’m not expecting them, especially the political ones.

Last weekend brought some much needed R&R from parenting as one of my stepdaughters took over the reigns, bringing down my mental anxiety a notch on a variety of fronts.

As I was pondering why there is still so much coverage of the so-called reluctance of “older” Hillary Clinton supporters to become enthusiastic about Barack Obama, I had one of those light-bulb, Oprah AHA! moments.

When some women look at what Obama has achieved, they see the younger, sometimes not-quite-as-qualified, man in their office who was promoted before them.

The one who got a raise that they should have gotten. The one who got the corner office with the window while they still sat in the cubicle.

They remember how that felt and how, if they wanted to keep their jobs and benefits, they couldn’t really raise a stink about it, even though it was unfair.

They remember what happened to them when they did raise it and were shot down.

There are plenty of us who have been in that work situation. I have.

As a young news reporter just starting out in television in the 1980s, I was told up front that I would not be getting paid as much as some of the guys. There are always plenty of “reasons” — they’re married and have kids to support, you’re married and have a husband who’s contributing, you’re married and have another income and the single guys don’t.

And that was always just the start. I saw men who were younger and less qualified get promoted over me at a large government agency because they knew what I liked to call the “secret handshake” — that intangible ‘guy’ thing that often seems to help push them up the ladder a bit ahead of their female counterparts, even when we were working harder and longer hours (and weren’t working on separate business ventures on government time).

While this is clearly not the perfect analogy for comparing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and how their supporters feel, I suspect that there is a subliminal lingering sense of resentment of that all-too-common workplace phenomenon that has something to do with the reported numbers of Hillary supporters who claim they will not vote for Obama.

My experiences of not always being treated fairly or equally in the workplace are not going to prevent me from voting for Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate. But I have to wonder whether the persistent sense of experienced women coming up short in the workplace and having to take the helper’s role to the younger man in the office is something that will unconsciously tip more than a few mid-life women into the John McCain or ‘other’ column.

For better or worse, the sum of our life experiences color and inform our election decisions and judgments. If Barack Obama wants to start wooing back some of the women who claim they are leaning toward McCain, he needs to find some empathy about their life experiences. It won’t be enough to send Michelle out to the speaker’s platform to do that.

(Cross-posted from PunditMom. )