Women and Politics

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

Regardless of which party you identify with, there is one faction that the 2010 election cycle shouldn’t ignore: Women. But according to Roll Call, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) doesn’t seem to be focusing on recruiting strong female candidates.

Roll Call called out the lack of female Republican candidates  in some of the most competitive House races around the country. In the Young Guns program—a program sponsored by the NRCC that provides fundraising for Republican candidates—the lack of viable women candidates is astonishing:

“Out of the top 10 candidates in the NRCC’s ‘Young Guns’ program, there is one woman: Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby in Alabama. The next tier of 20 ‘Contenders’ in the program includes two women, and the lowest tier of ‘On the Radar’ candidates has only one”.

As WCF President/CEO Sam Bennett said in her interview with Fox’s America’s News HQ,  in order for the GOP to succeed in increasing their 4%  representation in U.S. Congress in this election cycle, they must recruit more women. America is hungry for the middle ground, and female moderate republican women (read: Dede Scozzafava) are the way to deliver that.

However one promising tidbit is that the NRCC has seemed to pick up the most important thing about women running for political office; the simple yet powerful three-letter word: ASK. Women must be asked an average of six times before they seriously consider running for office. And the efforts made by the NRCC seem to have paid off for State Rep. Jackie Walorski who is now running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Indiana:

“The NRCC ‘started calling me three or four years ago,’ Walorski recalled. ‘They called me constantly to try to get me to run. I got so tired of hearing from them, I told them to stop calling me’”.

One can only hope that the NRCC continues their efforts on recruiting and supporting women candidates.

We’ve said this too many times. Women bring a new palette of ideas and knowledge, which simply cannot be ignored in a country where a majority of the population is female. Women are the key to fixing our broken government. Currently, only 17 Republican women currently serve in the House of Representatives. If the GOP wants to shift the balance in Congress this year, they must turn to moderate women.

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

It’s no secret that women decide to run for office at substantially lower rates than men. The keyword here is “decide.”

Men can wake up in the morning and decide that they want to run for public office and immediately get on the campaign trail without any further worries. Women on the other hand tend to have obligations such as taking care of the family and children, which prevents them from making the decision to run.

And the results of this political ambition gap can be seen easily when looking at how many women currently serve in public office. A recent study done by Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics showed that in the 2008 election, women made up 54% of the vote; however, only 24% of State Legislators are women.  Furthermore, the amount of women in state legislatures has leveled off in the past few decades.

The entire study, including in-depth explanation on the five main points can be found here.

The study has five main points, which explain why women are less likely to run for office and must be asked multiple times before they embark on the campaign trail. Research has shown that women often won’t even consider running for office unless they’re asked.

• Women need to be encouraged to run for office — and are more likely than men to run for office because they were recruited rather than deciding to run on their own
• Women candidates need to attract support from political parties; those who reach the Legislature usually do so with party support
• Organizations are encouraging women to run for office, but they could be more active in candidate recruitment
• The pool of women candidates is larger than commonly believed
• More funding and training can help women win

Enter She Should Run. This unique program addresses the gender inequality at its root: The decision to run for office. In order to achieve equality for women in public office, we have to ensure that more women across the country are even thinking of running for office. And we need everyone involved in this effort.

Do you know a phenomenal woman who has the ability to make a difference in the political arena? Help us bridge the enormous gender gap in elected office and ask a woman you know to run for office today. Studies show that when women run for office, they win and lose just as much as men do.

Only with equal representation in the state and federal office can women truly have their voices heard. In a time where women’s reproductive health legislation is in the hands of our elected officials, there is no better time for women to run for office.

Ask a woman to run for office today. It could be the best question you will ever ask.

In honor of the 37th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I am Blogging for Choice - a NARAL Pro-Choice America tradition. TOPIC: What does Trust Women mean to you?

Trust. It’s a tricky thing—very difficult to earn, but extremely easy to lose.

It’s a concept most often applied to close personal relationships. You need to trust your family, partner, doctor, friends, auto mechanic, co-workers, etc.

But what about when we think of trust on a larger scale—our government, elected officials, and world leaders? We’re supposed to trust them to protect us and make decisions in our best interests.

In America, we’re granted the freedom to make many personal decisions. Because of this, we’re in essence saying that we trust our fellow Americans to carry out their actions in a careful and harmless manner. Be it with their gun ownership, raising children, public safety, etc.

However, it’s become increasingly clear that some members of our society and even our elected officials don’t trust certain groups of people—be it based on race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, or gender.

Women, over half of the US population, certainly don’t seem to be trusted. Sure, it’s better than it was…we’re now trusted to work outside the home, vote, drive a car, and start a business.

But when it comes to the most deeply personal of actions, we don’t trust women to take care of themselves. We don’t trust them to make their own decisions regarding their bodies, health, and reproductive options.

Men’s reproductive systems are completely left alone—we trust them to make their own decisions about sex, health, vasectomies, and cancer prevention.

But women…oh, no. They’re a different story. We must regulate every aspect of the reproductive health—from birth control to pregnancy to cancer screenings. Because they, clearly, cannot be trusted to make decisions for themselves.

They couldn’t possibly decide when to have sex, when to have children, or how to protect themselves. They wouldn’t take these things seriously.

What? If we can’t trust women to take care of their most critical health needs, how are we even trusting them to be in public and function in society? They must be so irrational, frail, and unintelligent—how do we even allow them outside the home?

Despite how damaging it is for anyone to harbor this opinion, the problem is that it’s not just normal individuals—many elected officials don’t trust women, and are constantly working to pass laws that restrict our ability to make personal, private medical decisions.

Though it’s doubly devastating for a woman public official to work against women’s health choices, the current problem is that we don’t have enough women in our government. A pitiful 17% of Congress is women. Some states have never even seen a female Governor or Senator.

I promise you that if we had more women in government, a woman’s right to make her own health decisions wouldn’t even be up for discussion. We could focus on things like the economy, environment, and national security, instead of what a woman does with her doctor.

This is why in addition to fighting the ridiculous legislation coming at us from anti-choice, anti-women officials, we also have to work to elect more pro-choice women, immediately. (First step: Getting more women thinking about running for office). This will be the only permanent way to end the vicious attacks on women’s reproductive freedoms.

We have to start trusting women. Trust them to choose, trust them to run, and trust them to lead. Or we may never see the day when our personal health decisions are truly our own.

The rallying cry of women’s political organizations has been that we need gender equity in public office. But why? Because it’s only fair? Women deserve to hold equal leadership roles?

Well, yes. However, the increasing trend is not to base our argument on entitlement, but the fact that women bring unique and needed skills to the political table.

As Renee Loth writes in the Boston Globe, women have traditionally morphed themselves into a male image in order to succeed in the political realm. Even women candidates today such as Hillary Clinton have been reluctant to emphasize their gender too much, for fear of losing votes. But, Loth says, women’s uniqueness is something to be celebrated:

“That women might see the issues through a different prism is something worth promoting, not hiding. Women doctors have pushed for more research into breast cancer. Women lawyers bring gender discrimination and sexual harassment cases. Domestic violence was quietly tolerated in society before women started joining police forces - and newsrooms. Collectively, having women in positions of influence rewrites every equation.”

And Martha Coakley, who recently won the Democratic primary and is well on her way to becoming the first female senator from Massachusetts, tends to agree:

“Women bring so much to the table and it’s important that women run. When women get involved they get enthusiastic, they get everyone else enthusiastic, and women will get the support of other women and of men.”

And luckily, women’s exceptional governing skills aren’t just being touted verbally by female candidates themselves, but finally being quantified. In September, Politico released a report showing that women lawmakers are more effective than their male counterparts.

Still, some women who dare to promote this idea experience backlash, as Sonia Sotomayor did during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. We all remember the Wise Latina hubbub.

But hopefully more and more women will be able to flaunt their uniquely female set of skills openly and proudly, without the fear of losing support.

Martha Coakley knows that women bring something special and needed to politics, and is encouraging them to run for office:

“Don’t be afraid that you won’t win the first time around. If you don’t run you can’t win. So I’m asking you to run, and I hope you’ll consider it.”

Listen to Martha - ask a woman you know to run for office today!

This post was submitted by WCF Fellow, Stephanie Glover.

On September 10 WCF held its fifth annual Hail to the Chiefs event celebrating female chiefs of staff. The program was an amazing success with over 300 people honoring 25 chiefs currently serving a member of Congress. With their busy schedules, it was great to see 17 of those women in attendance. The program offered opportunities for WCF members to meet and congratulate these chiefs of staff for their hard work and commitment to public service. Honoring and celebrating these women is especially important because according to WCF research, the number of female chiefs of staff has been stagnant for the last three years:

In the past three years there has been no significant increase in the percentage of House Members with a female Chief of Staff: Less than one-third of House Members’ Chiefs of Staff are women.

Of the female House incumbents, there has been an increase in those employing female Chiefs of Staff.  In 2007, about thirty-five percent of all female House Members employed a female Chief of Staff.  Today, about forty-six percent of female House Members employ a female Chief of Staff.

In every year over the past three years, of the over-three-hundred male incumbents in the House, only about one-third has employed a female Chief of Staff.

In the past three years, the percent of male Senators employing a female Chief of Staff has dropped almost five percent: less than twenty percent of male Senators currently employ a female Chief of Staff.

In the past three years, the percent of Senators’ Chiefs of Staff who are women has actually decreased.

Held at the Sewall-Belmont House, home of the National Women’s Party, the venue highlighted women’s past political struggles while the celebration looked toward the future role of women in politics. As the program neared the end, WCF fellows approached guests for nominations for WCF’s She Should Run program and this great group of attendees suggested 57 names for potential candidates—those nominees will soon be learning all about how and why they should run for office.

Additionally, Jan Lipsen received the “WCF Jan Lipsen Award” for her pioneering work in Congress as one of the first professional women on staff. Rick Diegel was also honored with the “WCF Shattered Glass Award” for his tireless work to elect more women as former IBEW Political Director and WCF Board Member.

Feel free to check out more of our photos from this great program.

Happy Friday! Our very own Julie Daniels, who manages our award-winning She Should Run program has written a post for the fabulous Women’s eNews. Check it out!

This month, we’re asking people to help us ask 500 women to run for office. We’ve already reached 250 - help us reach our goal!

Why do we need more women? One reason Julie cites in her article:

We have found that female legislators are 50 percent more likely than their male counterparts to pull people together, get people involved and build issue-based coalitions. Fifty-nine percent of committees chaired by women–versus 48 percent for male-chaired committees–are rated above average for inclusivity and power-sharing.

Only 10% of women think about running for office, compared to 20% of men. Also, women tend to run for office because someone they respect asks them - but they aren’t asked as much as men. And we wonder why only 17% of Congress is women?

Step up, folks - ask a woman YOU know to run for office. It doesn’t even have to be in the next five years…but get her thinking about it NOW.

Netroots Nation is almost here! The staff and I have been running around in a whirlwind getting ready, and we leave tomorrow!

Our Blogicize effort to ask 2,500 women to run for office has been launched - and already two fabulous bloggers have participated: Kathy Groob from ElectWomen Magazine and Jen Nedeau from Women’s Rights at Change.org. Join the movement - sign up to Blogicize She Should Run™ today and get more women thinking about running for office.

WCF will be stationed at the Candidate Kiosk in the Exhibition Hall along with Act Blue, DLCC, Team Blue, NGP, and Wired for Change - so stop by and see us!

Also, WCF President/CEO Sam Bennett will be leading a discussion about how we truly work toward gender equality in public office at 3:00pm on Thursday at the “Author’s Table” in the Exhibition Hall. We hope to get those great Netroots minds working so we can attack this problem together.

Sam will also be on a panel on Thursday at 4:30pm (Thursday’s a busy day!) - Redistricting is Coming! Why Progressives must Focus on the State Legislature in 2010 and How You can Help.

We’ll also be at the infamous Pub Quiz Meet the Candidates event - Sam will be Emceeing alongside Adam Bonin, which should prove to be an entertaining evening!

We’ll be blogging and tweeting from Pittsburgh - I look forward to seeing everyone there!