Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

America is hungry for moderate republican women.

In her recent appearance on Fox’s America’s News HQ, WCF President/CEO Sam Bennett argued that in order for the GOP to succeed in gaining more votes the 2010 election cycle, they must recruit more women.

When talking about the special election for Massachusetts Senate, Bennett said:

“Brown took that seat again in no small part because he was in the middle of the ground and he supports, as a majority of the Americans want to see supported, an American’s right to choose their own reproductive choices and options”

Believe it or not, only 21 Republican women serve in the 111th U.S. Congress; four in the Senate and 17 in the House of Representatives. With Republican women representing only 4% of Congress, you would think that the GOP would take the hint and rally its support behind their moderate women candidates.

Apparently numbers is not enough of a wake-up-call. Let’s not forget the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional district last year. The Republican Party decided to back Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman, drastically yanking their support at the last minute for previously RNC-endorsed candidate Dede Scozzafava,  leading to the suspension of her campaign.

If the majority of the American people support women’s reproductive freedoms, isn’t it about time the GOP jump on that bandwagon as well?

Click here to see the full Fox America’s News HQ video on WCF’s YouTube channel.

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

In January, WCF President/CEO Sam Bennett was a guest on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. Along with NOW President Terry O’Neill, Bennett discussed the sexism and double standards that greatly affected Martha Coakley’s race for Massachusetts Senate.

During the energetic banter, Bennett made it no secret to Matthews all the viewers that double standards still cripple the campaigns of female candidates. Bennett touched upon how the media scrutinized her serious demeanor, being called “ice queen” as well as the media’s response to her opponent’s Cosmopolitan centerfold:

“Bennett: Her opponent, nude male centerfold gets a total pass, and here’s Martha Coakley called an ice queen, if she was a guy, Chris, she would have been called dignified.

Matthews: And if she had done the centerfold?

Bennett: She wouldn’t even have been in the race. It wouldn’t even happen. It would have been a deal-killer for her. It’s about a double standard, it happens all the time.”

Watch Bennett’s engaging conversation with Matthews on WCF’s YouTube channel.

I was saddened to hear about the recent sexist attacks against Martha Coakley, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins.

As a former Congressional candidate, I know exactly how it feels to be attacked simply for being a woman. I never realized just how sexist politics is until I decided to run for office.

My local paper ran an unacceptable quote about me on the front page during my race. Now, I’ve decided to tell my story on camera to bring these kinds of misogynistic attacks to light.

Click here to hear my story and help us put a stop to sexist attacks.

Help us fight sexism in politics today: we’ve provided the emails of all four recent offending members of the media so you can contact them and speak out against their offensive sexist rhetoric.

I have the honor of appearing on PBS’s To the Contrary tomorrow - an all-female news analysis series:

“With women in the forefront of politics and on the cutting edge of national agendas, To The Contrary continues to provide an important, timely forum for women to discuss national and international issues and policies. It presents news and views that are rarely, if ever, available elsewhere on television.”

With so many ongoing issues that affect women today, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of this program. Tomrrow’s topics will center around health care reform and the fact that women are staying in the workforce longer. I’ll be back to let you know how it went and share the video with you!

WCF-endorsed candidate Jennifer Brunner currently leads her Republican opponent in the upcoming Ohio senate race, according to a recent Public Policy Polling Survey.  The current Secretary of State will face a primary election on May 4, 2010.

For more on Jennifer Brunner’s Campaign, visit her website and read what WCF President Sam Bennett has to say about her.

Ladies: A couple questions for you.

How much do you give to charity every year - a certain percentage of your income? Depends on the cause?

Now, how much do you give to candidates every year? How about just women candidates?

A pretty stark difference, eh? The recently updated Vote With Your Purse research from our sister organization, WCF Foundation shows that women contribute far less to political candidates than men. They give to causes and charity, but not politically:

Despite casting nearly eight million more votes than men, women’s contributions accounted for only 31% of total donations to candidates, PACs and party committees in the 2008 cycle.

And when we do give politically, we give significantly less to women candidates than men. What gives?

In 2008, women gave $381 million more in political contributions than in 2006, however, only 35% of these contributions were to women candidates.

If you’re asking: So what’s the big deal? Who cares how much women give to candidates and who they give to? Here’s your answer:

In 2008, if women had increased their giving by just 22%, this would have represented an additional $40 million for congressional candidates of both genders or $13.8 million for women candidates specifically.

Women give to causes they believe in, but don’t tend to connect those issues to the candidates they vote for. However, sometimes helping to elect a candidate who supports your issue (i.e., reproductive justice) can be the best way to make progress.

We all know the unfortunate truth about politics in this country: No money = no winning. As Sam Bennett said:

“The effect is clear: women candidates are being outraised and outspent. Money in politics is perpetuating the gender divide in public office.”

In order to achieve parity for women in public office and advance the issues of importance to us and the nation, we must open up our wallets and vote with our purses.

Read the Vote With Your Purse 2009 update release here or download the full report.

My name is Sam, and I’m the new President/CEO of WCF. Having been a candidate myself, I hope to offer some insight and realism to the dialogue about women and politics in this country.

To start off, I’d like to tell you about my rude awakening as I was running for mayor of Allentown, PA. The first stump speech I ever delivered was interrupted by the Chair of a Men’s Democratic Club:

“Sam, I was lying in bed thinking about you and I wanted to ask you what every man in this room is wondering…just what are your measurements?”

This didn’t happen in the 1950’s - it was just nine years ago. Clearly, we have some way to go before politics is blind to gender. But more on that later.

I’ll be sharing more of my stories and blogging regularly to give you an inside look at WCF, our candidates, and the political landscape for women.

Today, I’d like to tell you about Jennifer Brunner - Ohio Secretary of State and candidate running for the U.S. Senate.

Brunner is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy 2008 Profiles in Courage award. She won the award for her successful reform of Ohio ’s troubled electoral systems, which were highly questioned in 2000 and 2004. This past election - under Brunner’s steady, intelligent hand - everything went smoothly.

Right now, lots of folks are trying to talk Brunner out of stepping down from Secretary of State. As a former party leader myself, I get it. Party leaders are nervous with reapportionment and redistricting right around the corner. They know Brunner could do a terrific job making sure that redistricting will be fair, equitable and non-partisan. But it begs the question: how often have high-performing women been kept in their place versus their male counterparts?

Brunner is exceptionally talented, and we need her in an even higher office where she can do great things for our country.

But to get there, Brunner needs money. She honestly acknowledges she needs to raise more, and we agree.

However, Brunner says that traditionally, she starts off slow, but builds revenue steadily quarter to quarter. We’ll see how she does, and support her campaign along the way. While Brunner recognizes that her opponent will likely raise more than her, both she and Roll Call point out that this won’t necessarily translate into him winning.

The Jennifer Brunner I met and have spent time with has a direct, unassuming, “just the facts ma’am” personality. We need her in U.S. Senate. We need her to rise.

Jennifer Brunner’s experience and outstanding tenure as Secretary of State will make her a better U.S. Senator - a Senator that will be good for Ohio and good for our country.