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.

June is a crucial month for women on the campaign trail. In tomorrow’s primary, WCF endorsed candidates Krystal Ball, Roxanne Conlin, Karen Bass, and Beth Krom will fight for more women in Congress, as will many others at the state and local level.

On June 22, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall will face a run-off for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. And I’m proud to say that WCF will be with her on the ground in these last days.

WCF is sending a full-time representative to work in North Carolina for Elaine Marshall’s Campaign. Mary Schilling, a former WCF Fellow, arrives today to help Get Out The Vote, recruit volunteers, and manage phone banks across the state.

We’ve chosen to support Marshall’s campaign because her candidacy has, from the beginning, represented the core ideals of WCF. As a non-partisan, non-establishment organization dedicated to getting women involved in politics, we are focused on the quality of the woman running, and not who the party leadership has decided is the most likely to win the race.

For 36 years, we have stuck to this principle—and the results in North Carolina’s recent democratic primary proved that top-down, partisan politics isn’t always right.

Winning almost 37% of the vote, Marshall was the top vote-getter, confounding party assumptions about her viability as a candidate. Since her primary, Marshall has received endorsements from a former opponent and retired Congresswoman Eva Clayton. Clearly, Elaine Marshall has the local expertise and personal willpower to fight for North Carolina, and American women, in the U.S. Senate.

Indeed, Marshall has already proven her mettle as North Carolina’s Secretary of State, leading the charge against Wall Street corruption and helping to return $340 million to North Carolinians. She was also recognized by the National Federation of Democratic Women as their ‘Outstanding Democratic Woman Elected Official’ for 2010. This is the type of leadership and consistent support for progressive values that led WCF to support Marshall from the beginning of her political career, especially when establishment organizations were unwilling to listen.

We’re excited to continue that support from Washington and on the ground in North Carolina. We’ll be there when Marshall competes in the June 22 runoff, for the general election in November, and for the rest of her life in public office.

It’s like an endless montage of network news gaffes on the Daily Show: Broken government, broken government, broken government. Only this isn’t so hilarious.

As Americans scramble to make ends meet and wait on bated breath for health care reform, they’re bombarded by accusations of who’s to blame for this mess. Democrats? Bush? Obama? The GOP?

Well, how about men? Considering they’re 83% of Congress, that’s a large group to blame. But it seems our Congresswomen would tend to agree with this sentiment. As Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1) shared last month:

“We go to the ladies room and we just roll our eyes at what’s being said out there. And the Republican women said when we were fighting over the health care bill, if we sent the men home, we could get this done this week.”

Shea-Porter has been raked over the coals for this comment, with many calling it sexist. But PunditMom on MOMocrats asks,

“Is it sexist if it’s true? For the most part, women are the ones dealing with care-giving issues for children, parents, in-laws, sisters, and extended family. How can lawmakers really weigh in on what’s needed to address these issues unless they’ve got first-hand experience with some of them?”

With men being over 4/5 of Congress, doesn’t math prove that they’re responsible for the majority of the deadlock? After all, it was the women who stood together against the Stupak and Nelson amendments. It’s the women’s organizations banding together to ensure that health care reform actually helps women and doesn’t strip away any existing rights.

With research rising about women’s positive impact on corporations, boards, and elected offices, it seems some are embracing the need to add more women to government…just not the U.S. As Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand alluded to in 2009, women tend to run for office because they want to get something done, while men just assume they can do the job and enjoy the blood sport of politics.

In a Washington Post article, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman pointed to research showing that Fortune 500 companies with more women at the top outperformed those that didn’t.

“Gender stereotypes aren’t politically correct, but the research broadly finds that testosterone can make men more prone to competition and risk-taking. Women, on the other hand, seem to be wired for collaboration, caution and long-term results.”

Research from the National Council for Research on Women confirms this, saying that women consider different issues and are more collaborative while making decisions, which leads to more win-win outcomes. But this can’t happen when there aren’t enough women at the table.

“When women do reach decision-making positions, it is not until they constitute a critical mass upwards of 30% that they are no longer perceived as representative of a special interest, but rather as full members of the group.”

And the current state of Congress proves this perfectly. With women only holding 17%, their thoughts and suggestions can easily be marginalized and ignored. We have 90 amazing women between the House and Senate, but despite their exemplary ideas and leadership, they can’t overcome their minority status.

So yes - maybe we should send the men home if we want to emerge from this quagmire any time soon. You don’t have to send them all home - just 355 to make it even: 90 women and 90 men.