WASHINGTON – Some of the country’s most powerful female Republicans and Democrats agreed on Tuesday the U.S. is better served by empowering more women leaders. But their tone differed slightly on how best to achieve that balance.
The message from Democrats was aggressive.
“For 200 years we’ve been playing on someone else’s playing field. We need to create our own environment,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat and the former speaker of the House. “Every step of the way it’s important to know your own power…We just have to do better to unleash the full power of women.”
Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas used more mild rhetoric when discussing the progress she’s seen in female political involvement since she first came to Washington in the 1970s, a period she described as a “building time” for women.
“Now it’s standard, we see women in the very top jobs,” said Hutchison. “I think women are coming our way.”
Pelosi and Hutchison participated in National Journal’s most influential women summit in Washington, where they joined a long list of other female leaders in politics and business to discuss the status of women in power.
Although significant progress has been made, there is still a large gap in the number of women who hold leadership positions in government and politics.
There are presently 17 female members of the Senate and women make up 17 percent of the House of Representatives. According to a recent analysis by National Journal, women hold 42 percent of government-sector jobs that pay above $100,000.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington state, praised the fact that more women are getting involved and running for office this year.
“More and more women are compelled to run…we’re seeing more women step up because they are compelled by the issues,” such as health care and the economy said McMorris Rodgers, who serves as vice chair of the House Republican Conference. She also said there is still “work to be done” when it comes to the number of women who hold elected office.
But Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FLa., cautioned against celebrating women’s progress too much.
“Electing just any woman shouldn’t be the goal,” said Wasserman Schultz, who is chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Instead, she said it’s important to “make sure we have women who are running and winning and going to champion for the causes for women.”
So far this year, women are on track to break the record of 141 female candidates for the House, according to the Center of American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Most of this year’s women candidates running for Congress are Democrats.
So what’s holding more women back from seeking office – from either party?
Some powerful women said it is a combination of confidence, timing and the lack of civility they see in politics.
“They lack confidence. The men don’t lack confidence. But a women says ‘maybe I need 48 Ph.D.’s before I attempt this,’” said Connie Morella, a retired Republican representative from Maryland who is now the ambassador in residence at American University’s Women & Politics Institute.
Family considerations can also be an obstacle.
“If I were 15 years younger and my children were gone…I would have loved to have run for president, but the timing wasn’t right,” said Hutchison. By going home every weekend to be with her children, Hutchison said she wasn’t able to participate in Sunday political talk-shows and other things that traditionally help prepare someone to run for president.
Michelle Bernard, president and CEO of the conservative Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy, argued women are discouraged when they see women treated differently than men.
Women are often asked about balancing family and running for office, yet “no one is ever saying ‘how is Joe Biden going to be a senator and raise children,’” said Bernard. “That is another factor women take into account.”
To close the gender gap in politics, some of the women on Tuesday emphasized the need for role models, recruitment and stepping up to change the status quo in Washington.
“We need to do more mentoring of women. More women helping other women. More organizations that are supporting women,” said Morella. “I don’t think political parties encourage women.”
“Women don’t have the same networks,” as men have, according to Neera Tanden, president of the left-leaning Center for American Progress. “We have to work a lot harder.”
Still, it’s crucial to engage in politics, women from both parties said.
“If you don’t like what’s happening, get involved,” advised McMorris Rodgers. “Get to that position where you can impact what’s going on.”
“Work hard and seize the opportunity when it presents itself,” said Wasserman Schultz. “It’s not hard to outwork most of the men.”