The Women Who Didn’t Run

Cross posted on Open Left

In a blog post yesterday, Chris Bowers is raising the right concern - that we need more women in elected office - but he's asking the wrong question ("Why Did Democratic Women Do So Poorly in 2006 Elections" July 10). In pointing to losses by women in several close races, Bowers assumes the problem lies in the candidates who ran last year or the way their campaigns were managed. But the root of the gender gap in politics rests with the women who did NOT run last year.

The 2006 results for women House candidates were disappointing, but were an aberration based more on the toss-up dynamic of some of the closest House races in history rather than a deficiency attributable to women candidates.

Women are more than half the population, but currently hold less than a quarter of all elected offices in the United States.  We know these women are much more likely to run for office if someone asks them, and if they have access to support and resources to get started. So the real challenge is getting more of the right women on the ballot. If we can accomplish that, we'll see more women in office.

Fortunately, the Women's Campaign Forum is targeting the gender gap at its root: where the pipeline begins. WCF's She Should Run™ campaign, launched in June, is an initiative to recruit 1,000 pro-choice women to run for office up and down the ballot. It's about finding qualified women across the country who should seriously consider running for office—your mom who is a community leader with experience effecting change, your sister who has stood up for what she believes in and has results to prove it, your boss who isn't afraid of risk, your best friend who has both the experience and the intellect to make a difference—and encouraging them to make the jump to school board, city council, or legislature.

See what Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Kirsten Gillibrand and Washington DC City Councilmember Carol Schwartz have to say about the importance of encouraging more women to run:

These are the types of projects that our country needs to get women on the road to successful political careers. If we want more qualified women to hold elected office, we need to make sure they get the critical "ask"—the tipping point—that gets them to run.

We hope you'll visit our nomination form and nominate one of our great American women.