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Women, start your campaigns

By Swanee Hunt and Kerry Healey January 28, 2010

IN 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming.’’

A century later, Roosevelt’s words still ring true. But for women looking at the results of last week’s US Senate race, it’s easy to be discouraged about stepping into the political arena - especially in Massachusetts, where only five women have held statewide office and four have been elected to the US House.

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I am glad to see this article.  Earlier in the day, I read the GOP co-chair saying women need extra hand-holding and was reminded how much farther we have to go still... and how little GOP as a party emphasizes gender equality.  It was all too obvious in reading that article.

It is really not that women need extra hand-holding, rather women have seen few to none role models for successful women in politics, depending upon which country you are in; the role model in another country may not work in yours.


In my own case, I am first generation to go to college. My mom did not go to middle school.  I draw inspiration from Hillary every day for who she is and what she has done for this world, especially for women.  She is such a tremendous role model.  Yet I wish she had succeeded in 2008.  The fact that she worked so hard... and still did not get there was tremendously disappointing to me as a close follower.  I expect I would have gotten into local politics had she succeeded.

I agree with what is said in this article.   It reminds me of what Rev.Jesse Jackson said when he ran for President and lost.  He said that a critical mass of African Americans need to get into politics and journalism and government jobs.. to become powerful force in this country.  I believe he gave that leadership and many have followed suit. I believe it made a huge difference for Pres.Obama in his election as he received ground-swell support from these budding power sources. 

As women get into politics and related disciplines in large numbers, not only will we have more bench strength, we will develop a larger sense of comfort and confidence that comes from the knowledge that there is large ground support.  This is pretty much the difference between being an executive walking into an all-male meeting with all male financial analysts calling into the meeting (yep, happened to me) vs. one walking into a conference as a speaker, where nearly half the audience is female (happened me also); I can tell you the latter makes you feel a lot more at ease with who you are and less self-conscious about every sentence you are about to speak. 

So, yes, there are major benefits to be gained in more women getting into the field.