Women have made an impact on politics at every level of government. Their increasing numbers assure that women will continue to be an even more potent force in promoting their agenda, concluded panelists Billy Moore, Betsy Crone, Carol Peltz, and Jenny Luray during the Annual Meeting in Washington.
Moore, chief of staff for David Price, Representative of the Fourth District of North Carolina, stood in for Price and spoke of the socially and politically obstructed path that women have had to navigate to arrive at their current influential position in the U.S. Congress.
From 1916 to 1940, most of the women who served in Congress were the widows of congressmen, appointed to complete the term of office held by their husbands. Only ten of about seventy women who served during those twenty-five years were elected.
Of the seven women most recently elected to Congress, all have held prior elective office. State legislatures have proven to be great “farm clubs” for ambitious and motivated women. Still, women, who represent 56 percent of the electorate, have only 12 percent representation in the House and 7 percent in the Senate.
A recent poll of congressional women concluded there are four reasons that women have been encouraged to run for Congress. Congressional redistricting has given women greater opportunity; not running against an incumbent levels the playing field. Women have become more able to raise money. Women have become stronger among the electorate. Finally, women's policy goals have proven to be popular with the voters. The issues that women have not raised during recent campaigns — abortion rights, the Tailhook scandal, and the Supreme Court confirmation of Clarence Thomas—tell how women candidates have positioned themselves vis-à-vis very controversial issues.
The political alignment of women has undergone a vast sea change during the last two decades, said Moore. During the 1960s, women often voted as their husbands did. This is largely no longer true, and it has had a profound impact on the campaigns of male candidates. For example, in his 1998 race, Price stressed women's education and health, headlining breast cancer. This stance helped him to capture the women's vote.
Panelist Betsy Crone, a Washington political consultant, described the founding of Emily's List. A group of like-minded political women took a look at the reasons women were not being elected to state and national office. They concluded that women simply could not raise enough money. Their solution was to found Emily's List — “Emily” is an acronym for “Early Money Is Like Yeast.” Their success in raising money for liberal women has made the difference in close races from Barbara McClusky's in 1986 through Barbara Boxer's in 1996.
Photo by William Jeffrey
In the last decade, Crone noted, there has been some progress in closing the gap between men and women serving in Congress. Currently there are forty-two women in the House, thirty-nine of whom are Democrats. At the current rate of change, it may take 100 years or more for women to be proportionately represented in the House. When looking down on the Senate floor during the recent impeachment hearings, a viewer could count ninety-one men and nine women. This is not at all an accurate picture of America.
Women, Crone concluded, add a unique ingredient to their political views. They carry with them life experiences that are often very different from those of their male colleagues. Most male members of the Congress come from two professional backgrounds: medicine and law. Women in todays Congress bring far greater diversity. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) is a former welfare mother. Lois Katz, a widowed nurse, was a teacher. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), a nurse, was motivated to run for office after her husband was killed by a handgun.
Women, Crone concluded, add a unique ingredient to their political views. They carry with them life experiences that are very often very different from those of their male colleagues. Most male members of the Congress come from two professional backgrounds: medicine and law. Women in todays Congress bring far greater diversity. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) is a former welfare mother. Lois Katz, a widowed nurse, was a teacher. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), a nurse, was motivated to run for office after her husband was killed by a handgun.
Carol Peltz, former Mayor of Sausalito, Calif., contrasted the culture of state and federal politics from the experience at the local level. In the cities and towns in which they compete for office, both women and men know and are well-known by everybody. At the local level it is much easier to effect change.
The Sausalito political scene twenty years ago, when Peltz first ran for office, was identical with the national scene described by Moore and Crone. Men dominated in numbers, and some offices were regarded as male bastions. Peltz's first run was for the local sanitary district, an office never held by a woman. Peltz was regarded as “that woman” intruder. The election was marked by fraud: Her male opponent circulated a sample ballot with her name crossed out, implying she had dropped out of the race.
When Peltz, a mother and former schoolteacher, first ran for city council, she campaigned on preserving the quality of the town for its residents and protecting the environment from the onslaught of rampant development. After she was seated, Peltz knew she had a lot to learn. She began consulting with experts on urban planning and development, traffic and police protection, and public policy. She learned patience, persistence, and toughness as she tried to advance her agenda against opponents with different views.
Jenny Luray, Deputy Assistant to the President in the White House Women's Office, moved from Congress to the White House with two perspectives: the roles of women in politics and the broad impact of women's issues on the political agenda. Luray has learned of the passion and doggedness that women politicians must have to be effective. They know that if they don't fight for their issues, no one will. In today's climate, where the women's agenda has come under increasing attack from the far right, women commonly cross party lines to advance their views: reproductive rights and family planning, child care, long-term health care, after-school child-care programs, women's health issues, gun control, and Social Security and Medicare. Appealing to common sense, women politicians have been successfully selling this agenda to the corporate world. These issues are also business issues; being aware of them is the best way to retain top employees.
Morris Peltz, M.D., is a training and supervising analyst for the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute. He manages the “In Depth: Art, Culture, and Politics” section of the Scientific Program.
Luray challenged some journalists' allegations that politics have become feminized. Hillary Clinton, for one, has stated that politics have become humanized, not feminized. We live in a changing culture where, increasingly, women are in the work force. Child care, traditionally viewed as the exclusive domain of women, has radically shifted, and fathers are taking up an increasing share.
Concluding the program, Harvey Rich, an analyst with the Washington Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, moderated a lively exchange among the panelists and the audience.
Moore again emphasized the daunting task women have in running for national office. Money and opportunity are immense hurdles to jump. Boxer of California spent $20 million on her last Senate race. Of the 435 seats of the House, only 100 come up for election in each two-year cycle. Of these, only thirty-five to forty can be made into true competitive races because incumbents have a mighty advantage. In the 1996 election, for example, 96 percent of incumbents were re-elected. The best recent chance for women was in 1992, when some congressional districts were redrawn, creating new districts not held by incumbents. The next redistricting will happen in 2002.
What about a woman President? Luray reported on a White House project aimed at raising the consciousness of men and women on this issue. The national press have picked this up. A nationally circulated Sunday newspaper magazine ran a story in the spring of 1999: “Ten Women Presidential Contenders.” Both Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Dole were pinpointed as key players in the public's mind.
Is there a female view of politics? “There certainly is,” the panelists agreed. It begins with women from both sides of the aisle often agreeing on the issues of women's agenda. Congressional women work collaboratively, unlike their male colleagues. In the Senate, the six Democratic and three Republican women meet monthly — a radical departure from the divisive partisanship of the Congress during the last several years. Women don't assume they know all the answers. They ask and consult with the experts. Women feel under the gun not to make a mistake. They have to be prepared, and they know their vote will be scrutinized.
Some old stereotypes are being confirmed. In the current Yugoslavian war, women have tended to weigh in more on the humanitarian issues of the massive refugee problem, whereas the men more carefully follow the military progress and strategy.
What is the prescription for women who wish to get involved in politics? Begin at the bottom and work up! Tedious “gopher” work like phone banks and mailings are often the first rung up. But the opportunity for able, committed women is there. The political climate is changing in their favor.