Sheila Markin is a former Assistant US Attorney. She helps people to understand in plain English what is going on in US politics today. Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a post!
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went to deep red Kansas last week, along with Bernie Sanders, and stood on a stage before an excited, cheering crowd of supporters. Their podium sign read: “Unite for America”. Ocasio-Cortez has been lighting up the political scene ever since her surprise win against the man who had been pre-designated as the next Democratic speaker of the House to take over once Nancy Pelosi stepped down. Now Joe Crowley is out. Ocasio-Cortez is in.
Something big is happening in the political grassroots of our country. Trump, the self-confessed pussy grabber, has ignited college educated women to take action. He and his administration are riling up women to take to the streets with the Women’s Marches but they have gone beyond that as well. Women are rising up to give money. Women are rising up to register students on campus and engage in political action, and a wonderful group of superwomen are running for office. Out of an overwhelming mountain of foulness, mysogyny and corruption we are getting from this administration, something wonderful is emerging.
So far, 592 women are running for office this November: for the House, the Senate, and for Governor. That’s a record. In the primaries to date, over 40% of Democratic nominees for the House are women. According to the Cook Political Report, female candidates in 2018 are more likely to defeat men. There have been 65 contests featuring one man and one woman and no incumbent on a Democratic primary ballot. The woman won 45 in out of 65 of those races. Men defeated women in only 18 contests.
72% of college educated women disapprove of Trump and only 27% of that demographic approve of him. The disgust women feel is not only with Trump. Women are angry and frustrated with the mostly male Congress as well. It is clear to most educated women, that defunding Planned Parenthood would not be on the front burner if women were in charge on Capitol Hill. Vox reported that this is shaping up to be the year of the Angry College Educated Female. I would say this is the Year of Superwomen.
Women have also been helping other women run for office. Cheri Bustos is a former journalist who comes from “Trump country”, rural Galena, Illinois, but won her seat in Congress by 20 points despite hailing from a very red part of Illinois. She is the only Democrat in the Illinois Congressional delegation outside of the Chicago area. She has been a voice for progressive ideas and also for women in politics. Cheri has been working hard to encourage women of color and younger women to get into politics. She created “Build the Bench”, a group that offers a one-day boot camp to help women who have not run before, learn the ins and outs of a successful campaign. The boot camp is free. 71% of the women who have taken the boot camp have won their elections.
I want to introduce you to a few of the inspirational women who were jolted into running for Congress. Some of them have never run for office before. Many of them dropped what they were doing in their careers to answer what they felt was a call to run for office because of Trump’s win. There are lawyers, nurses, scientists, former women in the military, and more. They want to be the new voices of our country and stand up for all of us. If we help them, they could have that opportunity.
Lauren Underwood is 31. She is a nurse by training. She herself has a heart problem, which makes her more aware of the health concerns of other Americans. She won her seven-way Democratic primary in a northern Illinois district with a whopping 60% of the vote. I have met Lauren and heard her speak. She is a smart, engaging woman who speaks for her entire community. Because she is black, the press wanted to cover her story from that perspective. She is the only African American woman endorsed by “Red to Blue”. But Lauren did not want people to vote for her to make history. She wants to be seen and should be seen, as the best person to represent her district because she is. One of the best lines I heard her say about why women need to run for office was this: “You’re either at the table or you are on the menu.” Very true. For Lauren the key issues are health care, income inequality, education and corruption in D.C. I wish you could meet her. She has a calm and engaging presence. She listens well. She is measured, positive, thoughtful and smart. She kind of reminds me of Michelle Obama. She would be a tremendous asset in Congress.
I have also met Abby Finkenauer. Abby is running for Congress in Iowa’s first congressional district. She grew up in a working-class family in Dubuque where they talked about politics all the time. Her father was a union pipefitter and welder and her mother worked in the school system. She is a strong defender of working class men and women. Abby is a poised, articulate, passionate voice for fairness and a way forward for all Americans. She is comfortable talking with everyone from dairy farmers to college graduates to union guys.
I have spoken with M.J. Hegar who is running for Congress in Texas to represent an area adjacent to Austin. M.J. grew up in a small town in Texas, went to UT Austin, and became a rescue helicopter pilot, earing a Purple Heart after being shot down by enemy fire and defending her patients and crew. She returned home and helped to open the doors for women to have combat positions in the military. Angelina Jolie is interested in buying the rights to her story to make a movie about her experiences. After she left the military, she worked in health care administration. Take a look at her campaign video, “Doors”. It is very well done and went viral when it first came out.
There are many other exciting, younger, progressive women running for Congress in 2018. Here are just a few of them: Cindy Axne- Iowa, Amy McGrath—Kentucky (first female marine to fly in combat), Elissa Slotkin -Michigan, Mikie Sherrill- New Jersey (Naval Academy grad who flew helicopter missions in Europe and the Middle East and former Asst US Atty), Chrissy Houlihan- Pennsylvania (Former US Air Force Captain), Gina Jones- Texas (Iraq War veteran and Air Force intel officer), Abigail Spanberger- Virginia (CIA operations officer).
There are articulate, progressive men running also. Matt Longjohn is a doctor who was the National Health Officer for the YMCA. What got Matt into his race in Michigan was what Trump said after he had that physical exam. Remember that bogus physical exam? Trump never exercises, and he said something to the effect that in his opinion physical exercise is bad for people. Matt was shocked and felt he had to say something to counter this misinformation. Matt went to the board of the Y and asked if he could issue a whitepaper. The board said no. They were afraid of losing their funding from Washington. After that, Matt sent an email to the DNC asking them to help him find a way to publicize accurate information about how to stay healthy. Instead, he ended up having coffee in D.C. with a representative from the DNC and they asked him if he would consider running for office. After thinking about how much he cared about what is happening in our country, he quit his job at the YMCA to run in Michigan’s 6th Congressional district. I have spoken with Matt Longjohn. He is terrific. I think he deserves to be an honorary Superwoman for purposes of this blog post.
But these are not the only worthy Democrats running to be our Congressional leaders. There are more. Many more.
When I post my commentaries on Facebook sites, I always scroll down to read what people say. I learn a lot from the comments about what concerns them. I often see a lot of cynicism and hopelessness. I want anyone out there who is feeling cynical to understand that there is power in optimism and hope. If you can envision a better future, it is energizing and motivating. I do not know if these excellent candidates will win, but I do know that they are courageous, and they are energized, and I am certain that they and many others out there rising from the grassroots, would make outstanding congressional leaders. These candidates are worth fighting for.
We can help them to win. I give money and I hope you will too at whatever level you can realistically manage. These candidates need to get out their messages and in more rural areas just a few dollars goes a long way. These candidates really need people to make calls and knock on doors in their districts. I make calls (it’s easy and you can do it from home!) I promise you that you will feel better if you get engaged in someone’s campaign. And if your candidate wins, you will have helped elect a real live action figure, a Superwoman or honorary Superman/woman who is ready to do battle for the things we need and care about. We need leaders to contain, control, and fight against the worst administration and president we have ever had to put up with. We need them there to speak truth to power on our behalf and not be afraid to take action when we need action to keep our democracy. Out of the morass of this presidency we could grow a reinvigorated progressive democracy.
