So......that happened.

You know that trope in a romantic comedy when a girl thinks her boyfriend is about to propose but instead he breaks up with her and it turns out he's done/been doing something so vile that he's not even the person she thought he was in the first place? That's what Tuesday (which by the way, was my fucking birthday) felt like. Except it wasn't a rom com. It was real life. And it wasn't just happening to me. It was happening to everyone around me. There's no sassy best friend to show up with ice cream, we all have to be each other's sassy best friend.

I am heartbroken in a way I have never been before. Just as our country has no roadmap for what's about to happen, I have no roadmap for what my life is under this new reality. My identity is forged around elections, empowering women to engage politically, and believing in the arc of the moral universe. We elected a misogynist/accused rapist over the most qualified woman in history. Where do I go from here? What does it say about my fellow white women that on average we care more about preserving our privilege and our fear than our own empowerment and that of our sisters? Two weeks ago I cried with gratitude and reverence each time I read the stories of grandmothers born before women's suffrage who were voting for a woman for president. Now I'm crying because I realize I might be those grandmothers before I feel this close to the precipice of equality again; a nonagenarian whose grandchildren take her rickety ass to the polls. "She's been waiting for this ever since she volunteered for Hillary Clinton," they'll say.

For the most part, I've been avoiding social contact. I'd like to tell you it's because I'm taking part in radical self-care or plotting the new Feminist agenda but the truth is I don't know how to be myself in the world right now. The moral arc is so much longer than I ever anticipated. Social media is wave after wave of anxiety inducing reminder of exactly what these next four years will be, self-righteous Monday morning quarterbacking as if ANYBODY saw this coming, and friends whose pledges to fight on only make me ashamed of my own inability to answer, "what's next?"

I don't know. If you want think pieces about whether Bernie Sanders could have won or whether Trump means what he says or which segment of the population is most culpable for Hillary Clinton's loss you can find them, just sign on to Twitter. After commenting my way through six years of elections I feel compelled to say something, yet every time I sign on to Facebook to an "ok folks here's my take on the election," I sign right off again. I don't want to add to the cacophony just for the sake of being on record. There is nothing that hasn't been said. Besides, I'm still reeling too much to crystalize exactly what I'd want to express anyway.

More than anything, I always strive for this blog to be what I would have needed in a given moment, so that's what these next couple of posts are going to be about--just whatever is making me feel better. Like I said, the moral arc really isn't doing it for me right now, but there is a Martin Luther King quote that I've been finding comfort in lately. It's the best I can promise myself right now.

With this faith I will go out and carve a tunnel of hope through the mountain of despair. With this faith, I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.

(More than ever) Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy

Make Elections Great Again

Let me start with the obvious: I love elections. I love nearly everything about them. I love the buzz of energy at a GOTV staging location, a perfectly cut walk list and a well-designed lit piece. I love the sense of patriotism that they invoke; for a few brief, shining moments our entire country is engaged in a national conversation about what we want it to mean to be American. I love empowering people and helping them believe they have a true stake in our democracy. I love that no matter how much money gets spent and how far, for better and worse, we have strayed from the electoral vision of our founding fathers, it can still come down to neighbors talking to neighbors. As much as I make fun of candidates, a good one can inspire an earnestness in people that is long since dormant in most adults.

And of course, there are election people. I love the people. If you made a pie chart of everyone new who has impacted my heart post-college, the non-campaign-person sliver would be infinitesimal. Campaign people are the funniest people in the world. They are among the most determined and the most loyal. I love our shared commitment, our intensity, and our dichotomy of cynicism and belief that we can make the world a better place. My colleagues make me love-to-hate even the least desirable aspects of election work: the hours, the stress, the peripatetic lifestyle. I have on more than one occasion been moved to tears just thinking about how lucky I am to have these people and this industry in my life.

With all that said: I. hate. this. election.

At first I thought it was just me. I love the work/life balance afforded me by doing electoral work at a non-profit, but I miss being out in field desperately. I miss the pace, the sense of urgency, and of course the people. Campaigns have become such a part of my identity that being removed from them pains me. The fact that this election season is going forward without me is damaging to my sense of pride. I feel like all my friends are hanging out without me. There's a reason this blog is called CampaignSick; I am homesick for campaigns.

But it turns out it's not just me. My friends, be they in the field, at consulting firms, or at independent politically oriented organizations are by and large finding this election joyless. When voters tell us they are sick of talking about the election, for the first time ever our reaction is "you're tellin' me."

Pundits and anti-Hillary stalwarts will point to an "enthusiasm gap," but I don't think that's it or at least not entirely. I will say the lies and stereotypes originally invented by the right and gleefully propagated by performative progressives during the primary have not helped matters. With friends like these as they say. A lot of ire was expended unnecessarily on the part of Clinton and Sanders supporters alike before we even got to the main event. Still, the party went through a fairly contentious primary in 2008 and went on to wage a general election campaign that was quite literally defined by hope and enthusiasm. This...is not that.

Of course Clinton is not as charismatic as her husband or as Obama, at least not in the same way, but I don't think that's it either. She is, after all the most qualified candidate ever to run for the office and, oh yeah the first woman to get this far in the process.

Remember the good old days when Mitt Romney seemed racist? When we couldn't believe anyone would re-elect George W Bush? Those days are well behind us. The Republican party's nomination of Donald Trump, a man who looks and behaves like a villainaire in a 90's movie, whose campaign and persona are sexist, racist, xeno and islamaphobic and an affront to our national values, has changed the very nature of the conversation. With Clinton as our nominee, misogyny was to be anticipated but this is a whole 'nother level. And bear in mind I started writing this post before this weekend's "groping" tape was released. It is common for Democrats to accuse the Republican nominee of not understanding the lives of racial and religious minorities, but rarely has he so intentionally and gleefully insulted them.

Clinton has not had the opportunity to show off her policy prowess because she is too busy saying, we are all too busy saying, "Can you believe this guy?" The prospect of a John McCain or Mitt Romney presidency had me disappointed, anxious, worried about my rights, but never flat-out terrified for the very fabric of society. Donald Trump has created a state of national emergency such that even for Hillary's ardent admirers, and I count myself among them, the conversation is not about electing this extraordinarily qualified glass-ceiling-shattering woman, nor empowering would-be voters in the act of doing so, it's about stopping Donald Trump. There is no room for electoral joy here, only fear.

Brian Beutler sums it up in a piece titled "There is Only One Message for Voters to Send In This Election"

Do you want children growing up in a country where white supremacy has been re-normalized? Where misogyny doesn’t disqualify men for high office? Where erratic ignorance is placed in the running for the world’s highest award? Or would you rather send a message that if a major party nominates a fascist to be president of the United States—someone whose very character threatens national and global stability—the overwhelming majority of the country will flock to the candidate standing between him and the White House, and he will be left with the
deplorables.

Look, I get that of all the things threatened by Donald Trump's nomination, the relative fun-ness of our careers ranks very low on the list, but there is a dark, palpable shadow over this election season and I've been trying to figure out why. I think it's going to be up to us to find the joy over these last 30 days. So if you have something fun, inspiring, or exciting submit it! Let's Make Elections Great Again!

Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy

The First Modern Presidential Campaign

I have this joke with friends who are indulgent enough to let me drag them to historic Presidential houses: Every President ran or participated in the first modern Presidential campaign. About 50% of the time when I visit these homes a tour guide will make that claim about the home's erstwhile inhabitant. In addition, as I mentioned in a recent blog post, I have been listening to Slate's excellent Whistlestop Podcast which has only reinforced what I have been saying all season: every Presidential election is an historic election. First of all, that's what history means. There is no such thing as "most historic." Second of all, a lot happens in 4 to 8 years. I'm not saying this year isn't special, even the most casual observer will note my feelings on our opportunity to elect the first woman President. I'm just saying the game has been changed before. Here are 16 examples of "historic" campaigns.


1789: George Washington: Okay this is a softball. First president, first presidential election although there wasn't much of a campaign to speak of.
1796: John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson: First contested presidential campaign. Also the first peaceful transfer of executive power which...was not guaranteed at the time.
1800: John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson: Rematch! The first peaceful transfer of power between parties under the US Constitution.
1804: Thomas Jefferson vs. Charles Pinckney: Twelfth Amendment! This is the first Presidential election in which there were separate ballots for President and Vice President. Previously, the runner up just became the VP which...had been a problem for Jefferson and Adams.
1812: Madison vs. Clinton, non William Jefferson/Hillary Rodham category...First wartime election.
1840: William Henry Harrison vs Van Buren Seriously you guys, I cannot recommend Whistlestop podcast highly enough and this was my favorite episode. Just check out the quote there from below.

"It is a garden of delights of electoral history. It is the Woodstock of elections. It is the Studio 54 of campaigning. It's the election that cracked it all open. All the gooey madness that we know about now: the empty appeals to the crowd, the false advertising, the paradoxes, the booze and the circus atmosphere all started with this campaign."

This election is noteworthy for many things including the idea of actually running for office (speaking on one's own behalf) rather than simply "standing for office," and being the first Presidential election with universal white male suffrage! 80% of eligible electorate cast ballots. Not of registered voters, of eligible voters. Listen to the episode. It's wonderful. It's also where I learned the etymology of the word "booze."
1856: Buchanan v. Fillmore First time an incumbent President (Franklin Pierce) had sought and been denied his party's nomination. It is also the first Presidential election to be Democrat vs. Republican. As you can see the 1856 election was a real embarrassment of nobodies. I'll still make my boyfriend/exboyfriend/gay boyfriends visit their houses with me though.
1896: McKinley v. William Jenning Bryan #ManyPeopleAreSaying that this is the first modern political campaign due to McKinley campaign manager, Mark Hanna who began using tactics like polling and direct mail on a large scale for the first time.
1912: Wilson v. Roosevelt v. Taft This one gives me feelings. And it gives us the rise of the Presidential primary system. Although the first Presidential primary was held in Florida in 1901, former President and my favorite historical figure Teddy Roosevelt basically forced a more direct form of nomination on the Republican party because he wanted back in the White House and figured his personal popularity was the best route to defeating his once and future friend, President Taft. Read the Cliffs Notes version here. Spoiler alert: It doesn't work but it weakens Taft enough that Roosevelt can make a credible third party run handing the election to Wilson.
1920: Harding v. Cox First election following the ratification of the 19th Amendment and therefore the first in which women could vote #BeyonceVoters
1960: Nixon v. Kennedy and the first televised Presidential debate. Assuming you have not been under a political science rock, you may have heard about that.
1968: Nixon v. Humpfrey First election after the signing of the Voting Rights Act
1972: Nixon v. McGovern First election after the passage of the Twenty Sixth Amendment which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. (Also something something CREEP something something Watergate Hotel...)
1992: Bush v. Clinton this was the first election to feature a town hall style debate in which ordinary citizens as opposed to journalists asked candidates questions. Town Hall debates have been a staple of Presidential politics since.
1996: Clinton v. Dole The first election in which both major party nominees had websites. Check 'em out.
2004: Bush v. Kerry, but notable for the way in which the Dean campaign leveraged the Internet and in particular online fundraising.
2008: Obama v. McCain Obviously this was the time field organizing was invented! J/k, j/k, j/k definitely not, but it is certainly notable because the Democratic party saw a black man (Obama) and a woman (Elizabeth Warren) battling it out for an historic nomination.


And there you have it! It is late and I've been working on this for a while so apologies for personal snark and not following a rule by I decide which candidate's name came first. I hope you enjoyed this peek into history! Let me know if I left anything out.

Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy

Somebody Made An Oops

It's been a really busy month for me which is a shame because there has been so much to blog about. In order to make sure I share as much as possible of the oodles of interesting campaign news out there I'm lumping some items together. I'm calling this post "somebody made an oops" because it is brought to you by some notable gaffes made by Presidential candidates and their campaigns over the past month. Enjoy!

Clinton campaign sends out typo, supporters retweet. Gotta love her on immigation.

Forget world geography, Ben Carson's campaign got a map of the United States wrong.

Also he called Hamas, "hummus."

Leaked National Republican Senate Committee memo on how Republican candidates should run if Trump becomes the nominee. My favorite line, “Candidates shouldn’t go near this ground other than to say that your wife or daughter is offended by what Trump said,” because you know candidates can't be offended...or women.

Someone dug up Ted Cruz's raw commercial footage and while it's not an anomaly in the campaign world it is awkward as helllll.

Bonus: Not technically a gaffe, but Frank Bruni's hit job on Ted Cruz is a standout in antipathy even in professional politics. Including the following quote from his college roommate, "“I would rather have anybody else be the president of the United States. Anyone. I would rather pick somebody from the phone book.”

May The Odds Be Ever In Hill's Favor

According to Yahoo Finance, the odds of Hillary Clinton being the next President of the United States are 11:10 which means if you bet $10 on her winning and she does, you get $11 back. On the other hand candidates like Chris Christie and Rand Paul are 16:1. Keep in mind there are a lot more Republicans duking it out for their nomination and that polling at this point is basically meaningless. That said if I were a bettin' man, I'd be betting on Hillary.

Hillary Clinton Announcement Video!!!

Putting it up here for posterity more than anything! I am, of course, over the moon that she finally announced! Would you believe I just watched it? I could have been a monkey washing a cat and I still would have been all in for her, so seeing the actual video wasn't a huge priority.

For what it's worth though I thought it was extremely well done. It wasn't until 30 seconds into it that I realized the announcement video had started and I wasn't watching a commercial. I actually liked that about it because it felt different from what I was expecting and it was just one of those head on candidate talking to the camera announcements that I'm used to when someone announces over a video. In any case it is, as the kids say, officially on and I am definitely ready for Hillary!

Lady Times!

The number of things I would like to blog about far exceeds the time I have to blog. This leads to a terrible cycle of me filing away articles in order to give a subject the time it deserves, only to have a story become irrelevant or me to get so overwhelmed with articles I meant to blog about that I forget what I was going to say in the first place.

One of the topics that seems to get short shrift is women and electoral politics, precisely because there is so much I want to say that it is difficult to choose what to write about. I decided that rather than ignore all the amazing articles I want to share with you until they pile up, when things get too backlogged I will simply link to a bunch of articles so at least I've shared them, if not editorialized. Here are some now.

A brief history of women running for President. Did you know that the first women to run for a major party's nomination was Republican?

The amazing Barbara Mikulski announced that she will retire at the end of her current Senate term. Mikulski is the longest serving woman in Congress and is know for her mentorship of other female Senators both Democratic and Republican. It's hard to overstate what Senator Mikulski means to those of us who are passionate about women's political participation. Feelings.

International Women's Day is coming up on March 8th! Here is a brief history thereof. In related news, asking "why isn't there an International Men's Day?" is a good way to get me to uppercut you. #MakeItHappen

In news that will surprise exactly nobody who has been paying attention, women make more effective legislators than men. It's nice to have another study confirm it though. Turns out women are more likely to introduce, pass, get cosponsorship and gain bipartisan support for their bills.

Apparently the UK's Labour Party thought it could woo women voters with a pink bus? John Oliver has the smackdown.

A New York Times article talking about how Hillary Clinton will message gender in the 2016 campaign. My favorite part is picture caption that begins "She and her husband, Bill..."

And oldish news,but on the other side of the spectrum, Rand Paul shushed a female reporter like she was a dog barking at company. Because the best way to avoid answering a question is to demean women.

And an Idaho lawmaker asked if women could get remote gynecological exams by swallowing a pill, because apparently knowledge of basic female anatomy should not be a prerequisite to legislating medical decisions on behalf of women.

Republican Congresswomen blocked a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks because the bill did not make provisions for victims of rape and incest. Although that may not be the most reproductive justice friendly news you've ever heard, it is critical because it shows the importance of having women at the decision-making table in every scenario. Good on Republican women for standing up for other women! (Even though it's not to the extent I would like.)

And finally... not directly about electoral politics but definitely political and about women, this amazing video shows what would happen if theft victims were treated like rape victims and why women often don't report sexual assault.



BAM! Thanks for reading. I have to go get some sleep before Day 2 of the EMILY's List conference which is, as expected, AMAZING!


Campaign Feminist Love and Mine,


Nancy

An Affair to Pretend Not to Remember

Nancy's Note: I cut this post in half because it tells two different stories about two different politicians. Stay tuned for part II.

Devotees will remember that I have a personal relationship with the phenomenon of the disgraced politician. While leading a recent organizer training, I found myself in the somewhat new position of having to explain who John Edwards is and why I revile him so. "Wow, you must really hate Bill Clinton," one organizer responded. Well, no. For one thing, Bill Clinton never made a liar out of me. He never funneled money to his mistress while habitually being late with my paycheck. And, this last one is somewhat debatable, he didn't put control of the presidency in jeopardy for the Democratic party. Still, this organizer's question touched a nerve. Where do I draw the line when it comes to infidelity and indiscretion perpetrated by my elected officials? This question has become particularly salient since two such politicians announced their candidacy in elections in which I will cast a vote. I plan not to vote for Elliot Spitzer or Anthony Weiner, although maybe not for the reasons one might think.

Bill Clinton had the good fortune of being done running for office by the time his infidelities took center stage. If he had been up for election in 1998 and I had not been 14 there is a good chance I would not have supported him. It isn't the infidelity I object to. Although I idolize Hillary Clinton, I don't pretend to know what goes on in other people's marriages. Besides, if she can forgive him, I certainly can. Moreover, when it comes to hiring an accountant or doctor, I want the person who will do the best job for me, not the person who is nicest to his or her spouse. Why should my choice in an elected official be any different? I would not have supported President Clinton because of the apparent power imbalance between him and Monica Lewinsky. She was a 22-year-old intern and he was President of the United States. You would be hard-pressed to find a clearer case for sexual harassment and abuse of power. The fact that he had been accused of other incidents of a similar nature does not help his case.

When we talk about Clinton in the liberal community, we tend to ignore the scandal that was once the focal point of his career. Meanwhile, Monica Lewinsky's political future was doomed the moment their affair became public. To this day Lewinsky is the poster-child for intern jokes, while Clinton has gone on to have an illustrious post-Presidential career. All this despite the fact that Clinton's position of power and responsibility made him far more culpable than Lewinsky. Had this been another man, another profession or another time Monica Lewinsky would be considered a victim.

That said, my fervent admiration for and slight crush on present-day Bill Clinton is well-documented. His commitment to ending climate change and improving global health, continued support of Democratic candidates and apparently reformed private life have regained him my esteem. Clinton is exceptional for his charisma, ability to deliver a nuanced message and commitment to progressive causes. We have not seen such a politician since he left office and likely won't for a long time. I mention Bill Clinton's exceptional intelligence, skill and charm because the of the comparisons we are likely to hear from Spitzer and Weiner as they attempt to rebrand themselves. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, you sirs are no Bill Clinton.

Before he resigned from Congress, Anthony Weiner was often likened to Bill Clinton. He was known for his wit as a liberal bulldog. His wife, Huma Abedin, worked for Secretary of State Clinton and President Clinton even officiated at their wedding. Again, Weiner's infidelity is not the problem, if it was infidelity at all. Honestly, I could imagine being Huma Abedin, being several months pregnant working a full schedule in an often long-distance marriage and my husband saying to me, "Honey I want to wack it to some facebook chats about how hot I must have looked in my Bar Mitzvah pictures" and me saying, "Knock yourself out." My problem is Weiner's spectacularly poor judgment in the execution. When your career is on the line, one would think you'd be more careful with your tweets. When Weiner resigned, I argued that his judgement, poor though it was, was not reason enough for him to be ousted. If we kicked people out of elected office for having bad decision making skills, half of Congress would have to resign. At the same time, I am not running to vote for someone who could be so professionally careless.

When the smoke cleared it became semi-public knowledge that one of the reasons Weiner did not receive more cover from Democrats was that he was personally unpleasant to work with. I heard stories of him screaming and even throwing office equipment at his staff (by which I mean the people who work for him) an accusation I take seriously as a political staffer. In the end Weiner just doesn't have the track record that a legend like Bill Clinton does. For all his soapboxing, what did Anthony Weiner actually accomplish? Making Anthony Weiner famous, which evidenced by the fact that he entered a crowded primary already replete with qualified candidates, seems to still be his goal.

I've Been Meaning to Talk to You About That

My Quick and Dirty Thoughts on What's Been Happening in Election and Advocacy News

Oh my God you guys, I miss you so much! I seriously think about blogging the way you think about cupcakes when you're on a diet: I can't have it and I want it all the more!!! The good news is operation no-blogging-until-I-finish-finals is working. I have one paper (on the definition of women's political participation as a human right) left, plus a whole bunch of editing. However, the list of things I want to blog about has been stock piling out of control and before they become irrelevant and/or consume me, I wanted to share them with you. Below are some articles and issues I've been collecting along with one or two of my witty and incisive comments each. Hopefully this will tide us all over for the next couple of days. Here we go!

Obama-rama:
Marshal Ganz from the "too good to accept Nancy" Harvard Kennedy school talking about values vs. issues for FOCS the New Organizing Institute. I'm not always a fan of the hippie-dippier aspects of the Obama campaign, but I love this because it highlights the impact and importance of empowering volunteers to take agency not just in the context of the campaign but in their own lives.
DNC Director of technology, Bryan Whitaker, on the role of technology in President Obama's election. I love this article because it gives credence to contributions and advances made from 2004 to 2008 that made the historic use of technology on the 2012 Obama campaign possible.
Jim Messina on what's next. My favorite part of this interview is that he distinguishes between what is an isn't transferable from OFA 2012.
Speaking of technology...my friend posted the Dole Kemp website on his facebook wall recently. I'm sure the Clinton '96 site was equally visually appealing. I believe the term the kids use is LMFAO.

Today in Voter Suppression:
Voter ID bill passes North Carolina house. Booooo!
Nebraska decreases in-person early voting by five days.
Conservative Colorado Group Photoshops Out Minorities In Mailer Opposing Pro-Voting Legislation Wow. Tell me that part again about voter ID laws not being racist?
Trevor Potter of Stephen Colbert/John McCain fame makes the case for electronic voter registration. Yes!
Oregon Secretary of State pushes for automatic voter registration. A thousand times yes!
Florida bill lowers the mandated number of early voting days and hours, expands the number of early voting sights Oh, Florida...
Special interests and conservative Democrats are going after fusion voting and the New York State Working Families party, again. Fusion voting is such a good idea. You know you're doing it right when the real estate lobby hates you. For more info on why I love Fusion Voting and the Working Families Party and what those things are, click here.
And....This.

Women:
People keep asking me what I think of those new Dove commercials. Here is what I think.
Women and organizers are both socialized to say "yes" when someone asks us for something, even at the expense of our own professional priorities. Great piece by friend Cole on the right way to say "no" when someone asks you for a favor.
Lindy West's response to men asking for 'the rules' after President Obama called Kamala Harris a hottie. Is it possible to get naked and roll around in a blog post? Because that's how much I loved this. For the record, I don't think what President Obama did was that bad, but I do understand where the people who do are coming from. It's all about privilege, a topic I've thought a lot about in grad school and intend to explore on this blog going forward. Seriously, read this piece. Lindy West NAILS IT.

Candidates:
Super PAC, Ready for Hillary started galvanizing support and heavily hinting at a Clinton 2016 run. People ask me if I think she'll run all the time and I always say I hope so, but after the way the media treated her in 2008, we sure as s**t don't deserve her.
In a case of art imitating life, the Onion agrees. I thought they were supposed to do satire...
Anthony Weiner is considering a run for mayor. He acted like an idiot, but I still don't think he should have resigned. I also don't think he should run for mayor.
Roll Call reports that the Hawaii Senate race is split along Clinton/Obama lines. It's called a primary, you assholes, it happened in 2008. Find something else real and not baselessly damaging to the Democratic party to report on.
Speaking of Fusion Voting and Working Families Party, did I mention I'm going down to South Carolina to volunteer for Colbert-Busch? I am.
Because her opponent does crazy things like debate cardboard cutouts of Nancy Pelosi.
Oh, and posts the phone numbers of voters who call his office. I'm not gonna say I've never fantasized about doing this, but that's what a GFY list is for.

Advocate from Where You Stand:
Ignore the tone of this article by John Hawkins who once asked me if I was going to "accuse him of patriarchy" after he pointed out that I was the only woman a panel we both sat on. (Well, now I am...) Kid wears shirt with pro-gun slogan on it to school. Kid gets in trouble. Hundreds of classmates wear shirts with pro-gun slogans on them the next day. Good for them. If anything we should be encouraging kids to engage in the process. I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Momsdemandaction.org came up with these moving and provocative ads in response to the absolutely insane failure of the gun control last week. Well, damn.
Everyday Sexism Project launches in the USA. The project gives women a space and a voice to identify the myriad ways that male privilege impacts our lives on a daily basis. I'm already blowing up their twitter feed.

Republican Operatives:
Gingrich campaign worker charged with blackmailing women, dressing up as an elephant. Argh! You're making us look bad!
Former Pawlenty aid supports equal marriage. My friend who tweeted this article editorialized, "If I had a dollar for every Republican staffer or former elected who supports gay marriage..." So, true! It's clear the direction we're going on this issue...now can we just get there?
Because speaking of which...The FEC ruled that same-sex couples can't give to campaigns like straight couples. The FEC's hands were tied. They were just interpreting a shitty, discriminatory law.

And that, my friends, is what I have to say about that. As I signed my email to my volunteers the night before the Iowa caucus, see you in victory!

(Hopefully this goes better...)

Campaign Love And Mine,

Nancy

Hillary Clinton's New Website

Hillary Clinton's new website is basically just the (awesome) picture above and a contact capture button, but it is already fueling speculation that she may be gearing up for a Presidential run. (Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please!) She looks so good that Fox News idiot, Steve Doocy felt the need to speculate on whether she'd had a facelift. (Ahhh! Women's bodies are not up for public discourse you sexist piece of....okay check out this project of the Women's Media Center for resources and a more eloquent commentary on this problem that I am calm enough to make right now.)

Anyway, Hillary is great and really want her to run for President, but if she doesn't it kind of serves us right.

Can Hillary Usher in a New Era of Leadership?

Beautiful and inspiring post by Arianna Huffington about Hillary's potential (and by extension womens potential) to impact our political and leadership culture. Hillary Clinton is such a hero to women in politics in so many ways. Responding to Hillary's comment earlier this month about what she will do in retirement, "I just want to sleep and exercise and travel for fun. And relax. It sounds so ordinary, but I haven't done it for 20 years. I would like to see whether I can get untired." Here's a sample of the HuffPo piece:

"Having mastered the push-yourself-to-the-limit path to success, she now, in a Nixon-going-to-China way, has the power to change the mostly-male-created stressed out, dysfunctional mess that is the modern American workplace. With smart leaders making terrible decisions, with multiple health care crises, with millions who can't get through the day, or the night, without the aid of a psychotropic drug, we are in desperate need of leaders with the status and experience to bring some sanity and balance to our work culture."

Yes, yes 1000x yes! Read the whole thing here.

How to end partisan politics

President Clinton (you may know him as Secretary of State Clinton's husband), argues that if we don't want partisan politicians in Washington, we should stop electing them.

"We live in a time where there's this huge disconnect between the way the political system works and the way the economic system works. Every place the American economy is booming, cooperation is the order of the day...But conflict is still good politics in Washington. So, until the American people make it clear that -- however they voted in past elections -- they want these folks to work together and to do something, there's going to be a little ambivalence in Washington."

Great neighbors think alike.

Note: I think this article incorrectly refers to Pres.Clinton as Pres.Obama at one point. Maybe it will be fixed by the time you read this.