NOW president Kim Gandy runs through some of the VP candidates on Obama's short list, candidates who certainly do not reflect the equality principles which Hillary Rodham Clinton stands for. Gandy reminds us that taking women's vote for granted is the mistake that John Kerry made and: "That kind of attitude has been driving women away from the Democratic party (or driving the party farther away from them)."
Kim Gandy: Obama, Are You Listening? This One's for Your Girls
. . Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee, appeared on Meet the Press on July 27 and was pressed by Tom Brokaw to discuss the criteria, timing and prospects for his selection for vice president. Obama refused to name any names, but he did offer this insight: "I want somebody who I'm compatible with, who I can work with, who has a shared vision..."
Well, I hope that shared vision includes full equality for women, because some of the names that have been floated recently aren't particularly reassuring.
We just had one of the closest primary contests I can recall -- with every last state and territory seriously in play, and 18 million votes cast for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Feminist voters, women and men alike, backed Clinton because they believed she would have their backs if she reached the White House. They were confident that her VP, Cabinet and federal court selections would reflect the equality principles she espoused. Some of these voters almost immediately transitioned to Obama once Clinton threw her support behind the senator from Illinois. But other voters are still grieving the loss of a dream. Others are taking a wait and see approach, and one of the things they are waiting on is Obama's VP pick. . .
The simple political fact is that Sen. Obama needs to reach out to women, and demonstrate that he is a true proponent of equality for all. He needs to ask for women's support the same way Clinton did. It was the first time in a long time that we've been talked to by a candidate who wasn't talking down to us. Some of the men on Obama's short list might not even bother to talk down to us -- many of them, with the exception of Joe Biden, haven't talked to us much in the past, so we suspect that they just might ignore us entirely in the future, while trading away our rights.
This country is in dire need of a change in course, as poll after poll indicates. But that doesn't mean Obama is a shoo-in. A bad VP choice could demonstrate that the senator and his consultants think women will vote for him no matter what. It's the same mistake John Kerry made, and you can see where that landed us. That kind of attitude has been driving women away from the Democratic party (or driving the party farther away from them).
. . This is no time to blow it.
Hillary Clinton Feminist Trailblazer Politics Gender News VP Denver Democratic Party Obama Patriarchy Feminist Politics
