Become a change agent
By Mark Curtis
2008 was a big year for women in politics. Hillary Clinton came very, very close to winning the Democratic nomination for President. Sarah Palin became the Vice Presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Whether you like one of them, but not the other, is beside the point. Women are moving up the ranks and becoming a force to reckon with in both parties, and that is the point you should heed.
So where do you come in? Well if you are just getting started in politics, look towards the grass root level. People scoffed at Sarah Palin starting with the PTA or Barack Obama starting as a community organizer, but look where they both are now.
Planning a Strategy
Maybe if you serve as PTA president for two years that will launch you toward an elected position on a local school board or city council. It happens all the time. Grassroots politicking gives you three things you will need down the road: experience; name recognition and political organizing skills. People are more likely to vote for you, if they are familiar with your name and experience.
Building a network involves more than just joining an organization, but that is a good start. The Republican and Democratic parties (and the Greens, Libertarians and others) all have organizations at the county or regional level. These are easy to find with a quick internet search. Become a member of your party’s most active organization near you. Volunteer to canvass neighborhoods for candidates on Election Day, and speak out on behalf of your party at local county commission or city council meetings. Be visible!
One way to be very visible is to start social networking on the internet. Join sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Friendfeed, Yelp and others to try to build your network. Many political parties also run their own Facebook pages these days. While it is called “social” networking, more and more people (including me) are using it to promote businesses, non-profits and yes political causes. Be disciplined in your approach. Perhaps build your own political blog, and link it to your social network. Blogs are easy to set up. Try www.blogger.com.
Women’s Role in Politics
Women are a growing force in politics and public policy and that is not going to change. Keep in mind, not all jobs are elected positions. You might volunteer to serve on the local parks and recreation board, or the library advisory committee. They are political bodies, but they are appointed rather than elected positions. Their influence in setting policies in a community can be enormous. There are many board and committee positions at the county and state level, and some of them pay handsome salaries. Another way is to become a “paid staffer” for an elected official. I recently met a woman who was a former town council member, who is now a paid staffer for a member of the legislature. She told me she likes the staff work far better than elective office, but she is still contributing in the political realm.
Run for Office!
If you have your sights set higher than just being a committee member or staffer, then find out about running for office. Go for it! There are 92 women serving in Congress right now, 16 in the Senate and 76 in the House. Eight women are currently serving as Governor of their states. Twenty years ago, only 15 percent of state legislators were women, today that number has risen to almost 25 percent! Similar gains have occurred at city and county levels.
The glass ceiling is cracking all over, at the highest levels. Now is the time for women to break through, once and for all!
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As seen in this issue of Connections magazine:
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