May 8, 2013 | Politics and Leadership
5 Reasons We’ll Have a Woman President
Lessons from the leader who's putting women in governors' seats—and some day the White House: Barbara Lee
Barbara Lee had her a-ha moment back in 1998. As co-founder of the now-closed White House Project, which trained women to run for high office, she realized that the surest route to electing a future female president was for more women to win governorships. So she started the nonpartisan Barbara Lee Family Foundation to provide the research and other tools that would get more women into the political pipeline. The result: when the Foundation started, only 16 women had ever served as governor in the U.S. Today that number has more than doubled to 35. Here, she shares her wisdom on women and winning.
1. More women in office is good for everyone.
A government of, by, and for the people surely cannot be comprised of only half the talent pool. It's not simply about numbers. It is about fulfilling the promise of our democracy.
2. Women deliver the goods.
They get results. Women in Congress have shown they are more effective than their male counterparts. They deliver more money for their districts, and they sponsor and pass more legislation.
3. Being a woman is a plus.
Voters give women an advantage on honesty and ethics. They perceive women to be more collaborative. And our research has shown that women have credibility on issues important to families, such as kitchen-table economics, healthcare, and education.
4. It's time for a woman president.
For the first time ever, women ran at the top of the ticket for both parties in 2008. With women winning seats in Congress and executive offices across the country, there is an amazing bench of women who are qualified to be president. I used to dream about the first woman president. Now I talk about electing her. That's inspiring.
5. As Hillary says, don't give up.
I personally shared my Foundation's research with First Lady Hillary Clinton, before she was even a candidate. The best advice I've gleaned from her is to stay optimistic about the cause. Watching her journey has been such a motivation to me.