This presidential election cycle has a record number of women running for commander-in-chief. Still, these female candidates must navigate the question of "electability," a double-standard ー one former Hillary Clinton staffer says ー that they will have to beat back throughout the campaign.
"The ultimate answer is that to be electable, you have to win," said Amanda Litman, the executive director of Run for Something, a political action committee that aims to elect young Democrats. Litman previously served as the email director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
"It's important to step back and realize what we're talking about when we talk about electability. It's the understanding of what voters think that other voters wants. It is an entirely faulty premise based on racist, sexist, and classist understandings of what a president looks like."
"It is total garbage," she argues.
Litman says that in order to challenge the conception that women can't win higher elected offices, it will require support for different types of female leaders, finding ways to make voters and donors comfortable in expressing support for their favored-candidates, and building a stronger pipeline of qualified female politicians through state and local races.
"We saw Kamala Harris in the debate really take on her opponents in a way that was sort of masculine-coded leadership. We've seen Elizabeth Warren whip out plan after plan after plan. We've see Kirsten Gillibrand be aggressive with interviewers who she doesn't think are giving her a fair shake," said Litman. "Each of them is showing a different way of being a female leader."
"Over the last two years, the number of women of color in state legislatures has more than tripled. The number of women in state legislators writ large has gone up by huge numbers," added Litman. "This means, down the line, there will be more qualified women to run for Congress, for governor, and for president."
A record number of women were elected to Congress in the 2018 midterm election, and a record number of women of color were elected to the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, women hold nearly 30 percent of state legislative seats ー totaling more than more than 2,100 ー according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers.
"Women need this experience in order to be considered serious leaders," Litman said. "A woman couldn't get away with a weak resume like a man could."
She pointed out that the serious female contenders for president ー Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Sen. Tulsi Gabbard ー are all current lawmakers. The exception: author and public speaker Marianne Williamson, who has qualified to participate in the second round of the Democratic debates.
Litman says that women can beat male competitors by being willing to work harder and engaging on issues like child care, health care, school, and the opioid crisis. "Mediocre women don't tend to run for office. Only excellent women do," she said.
"The ultimate answer is that to be electable, you have to win," Litman added.
Going into election day on Tuesday, many of us had an inkling it might not be a great day for Democrats. History tells us the president's party tends to lose congressional seats, governorships and state legislature seats in off-year and midterm elections. Tuesday turned out to be a big wake-up call for democrats. Not only did Terry McAuliffe lose in the Virginia governor's race, Gov. Phil Murphy won re-election by an incredibly slim margin. Both races saw continued Democratic losses in rural areas and a shift of suburban voters back to the GOP. Liz Landers, chief political correspondent at Vice News, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Week one of UN climate summit is coming to an end, world leaders made a number of promises to save the planet. President Biden attended the first two days of the meeting.
Alan Neuhauser, vice president of Silverline Communications, joined Cheddar Politics to talk more about the pledges that came out from the summit and their significance.
It's been a busy week for the Supreme Court. It heard arguments on three of the most watched cases in the docket for this term. The court heard arguments in two cases challenging the Texas abortion law on Monday - one filed by abortion providers and the other by the justice department. Instead of weighing in on the constitutionality of the matter itself, justices focused on the unusual structure of the law that enables citizens to enforce the law, not the state government.
On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade. The dispute is over a New York gun law that requires people seeking a license to carry a handgun in public to show a "proper cause." The challengers in this case claim the law inhibits their constitutional Second Amendment rights.
Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSBlog, joined Cheddar Politics to break the cases down.
This is the first installment of Cheddar Changemakers, where we spotlight young activists making a difference in the world and speaking up on issues regarding mental health, voting, and climate change.
Republicans are considered, and often act like, the party opposed to action on climate change. They've made a point of fighting even modest regulations on businesses related to stemming the worst effects of climate change. But Republicans aren't a monolith on climate change, and our next guest reminds us that "conservation" and "conservative" have the same word root.
Quill Robinson, VP of government affairs at the American Conservation Coalition, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, Ted Wheeler joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss his plans to get an increase in the city's police budget for more personnel, changes to public safety response, and more body cameras. The Democratic mayor addressed the growth in violent crimes amid the pandemic, but noted the need for officers who take their roles seriously. We want officers who understand that policing is an important responsibility, it's a high calling," he said. "We also want a police bureau that is accountable and responsible to the public it serves."
More American tech companies continue to pull their businesses out of China as the Communist Party cracks down on firms — both foreign and domestic. Yahoo and Fortnite have become the latest companies to withdraw from the country, and the withdrawals come just days after Microsoft announced it would take LinkedIn offline. Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book International, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into how the crackdowns in China would also impact the tech companies at home in the United States.
A new report out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows how just ten publishers are responsible for the bulk of climate change misinformation on social media--and companies like Facebook and Google are making money off them. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, joined Cheddar to discuss.
'The Good Liars' are Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, a comedy duo that's been shaking up the political world for years. They're out with a new mockumentary, 'The Supporters,' following the 2020 election. Jason Selvig & Davram Stiefler, Stunt Comedians and creators of 'The Good Liars' joined Cheddar News to discuss.
