I continue to read about liberal-leaning men governing other countries who believe women deserve equal representation in government. They seem to understand that women need to be in leadership positions and on the ballot for this to happen (I know, shocking!). First Trudeau gave equal representation among his ministers and now Macron is making a point with his from-scratch party En Marche where he pledged (back in January) that “at least” 50% of their candidates would be female. I don’t believe I’ve missed it but have any national male leaders with an influential position of power within the Democratic party called specifically for real measures like this that would raise the level of participation and representation for our female voters? You’d think after the level of sexism that pervades our culture and institutions was brought out into the light last year that there would be priority to help women running as Democrats. Or are they content with twice the number of Democratic men than women in the Senate and House? Cause I’m not...and the thousands of women running for office for the first time, leading in their communities and showing up for political events aren’t either.
It is time for a culture change within the party and women need to be at the center of our policy writing, campaign strategies and in front of the camera. Who will be the first leaders in the Democratic party to take real steps to get women on the ballot as Macron is doing in France? Male Democratic legislators hold a lot more of the seats so they get a lot more of the press, TV time, money and traditional support from political networks. When will they match action to rhetoric like Trudeau and Macron have done?