We have to fight for the part of it that is rightly ours. Women range the spectrum from far lefties to centrists just as liberal men do but we don’t have anywhere near the representation in our gov’t or our party.
First, on the infighting:
Our job is to put out good D’s on the ballot and get them elected. We don’t all have to be best buddies...we just have to work together to identify candidates, run our party business and GOTV. Those of you wringing your hands over the infighting should get off the internet and go to a local Dem meeting...where all of us from Berniecrat to hardcore Feminists to ProLife Dems actually accomplish things together each and every day.
I’ve spent today momming, working and catching up on recent diaries. I think there is a lot of angst and bickering and lots of really valid points floating to the top of all the discord. I agree with those who feel our party leaders need to embrace the biggest theme that came out of 2016:
The Future is Female. Or at least, the Future is a lot more Female.
We need fewer, better white men in government and in our party leadership. Asking for equality isn’t taking something away from men. Men are currently 4/5 legislators on average. We know Repugs aren’t going to do anything about that so we as Dems basically have a moral obligation to female citizens to put more of them in office. And why wouldn’t we?! Women have proven to be great legislators and leaders.
Because I volunteer locally with my County Dems, my husband is in local govt, I attend my Dem conventions, vote for Dem officers and I’ve learned how the party works I am not surprised AT ALL that we have twice as many men as women elected as Dems to the House and Senate. The grassroots and local govt offices are dominated by male candidates. Women are making inroads where I live as party leaders but men are still the norm. We can change that pretty easily. Plenty of men and women are already helping with this stuff, it isn’t controversial:
-Women, especially ladies of color, should be our candidates — they can speak to Dems on both sides of the gap between people who are fighting for economic justice and those fighting to end discrimination...being fucked over on your paycheck is pretty universal but only half of us know the ins and outs of buying tampons
-Women are disgusted by Trump and taking action. We need to find our leaders within the Resistance. Local, State, National.
-Environmental groups fighting climate change are some of the most well organized I’ve seen with discipline in messaging. We superficially work with them sometimes as Dems, but I see women leading climate movements. Many potential candidates and party leaders there.
-Providing high quality child care for Democratic Party meetings from local precincts up to the state conventions/national conventions would really help women be more active Democrats (thus becoming grassroots troops, party officers and possibly candidates for office). We are 15x more likely to be responsible for daycare than potential male candidates
-We need to set a target for female candidacy and hold our elected party officers accountable to report back how close we get at our state/national conventions. Yesterday.
-We need to move beyond training women and actually put them on the ballot. Brilliant, qualified women are literally everywhere from PTO to library book club to nurses and social workers.
-We need to continue working to change our political culture so that women are recognized as leaders and candidates.
This isn’t a divide in the party that is going to destroy us, this is a dramatic change to our political culture. The Women’s March and nominating a woman changed everything. The legislation on climate, healthcare, workers rights our voters want will be championed by women. Let’s fight with them and for them.