Madame Speaker
Nancy Pelosi wore a white pantsuit for her speech to the Democratic National Convention last night. It wasn’t just a fashion choice: the first woman to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives channels the history of American women in politics. One hundred years ago, women seized the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. They wore white as well. Nancy Pelosi was not only celebrating her own success, but honoring the women who came before.
You don’t have to agree with the Democratic Party platform. You don’t have to accept that Joe Biden is the “best” candidate for President. And you don’t even have to like what the Democratic Party stands for. But what you cannot fail to recognize is that the Democratic Party is one where women have a dominant role.
The Closers
It is the women of the Democratic Party that have closed the last three nights of the Convention. The first night, Michelle Obama made clear America’s choice in the election of 2020. The second night, Jill Biden opened her heart to show us the humanity of our husband, Joe. And last night, the first Black woman to be nominated by a major party for the Vice Presidency, Kamala Harris, told her story and made her case to America.
It was powerful women who spoke for the Democrats, including former Congressman Gabby Gifford. She was wounded in an assassination attempt, and yet continues to show her amazing determination to make a difference. And the first woman Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, warned us to not make the mistakes of 2016. As she said, “‘woulda – coulda – shoulda’ won’t cut it in 2020”. Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, and dozens of other women spoke to America about what the Democratic Party is all about.
Joe Biden has his work cut out for him. Bad enough he has to follow Barack Obama, who clearly warned of Trump’s threat to our Democracy. But to follow all of those powerful women is an even more daunting task. But it’s not a competition. Biden shouldn’t try to be more than he is. He should just show us his heart, and demonstrate our choices in November. That would be enough.
The Future
We are far from the old videos of white men crowded on a stage in historic conventions. The smoke-filled rooms that go back to the nomination of Lincoln in Chicago of 1860 are long gone. We are almost as far from only sixteen years ago, when John Kerry and John Edwards, two “accepted-establishment white men” gained the nomination. The Republican Party of Trump and Pence is still stuck in the past.
The Democratic Party is one of color, of diversity, of movements looking to improve the world. It is the place where climate change, LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter, Gun Law Reform, #METOO, Prison Reform, Immigration Reform and others all intersect. But perhaps most importantly, the Democratic Party is one of powerful women, taking the reins to return our nation to its proper place.
2020
The election of 2020 is about many things. But it comes down to two essential issues. The first is the competency of the Trump Administration, particularly in light of their failure to control the COVID pandemic. The Democratic Party is presenting a message of competence and strength, led by powerful women.
And second, is the issue of what America’s future will be. Donald Trump is presenting a nation in fear: too scared to fix the climate, or racial injustice, or the other multiple inequities in our society. That fear is symbolized in Trump’s plan to prevent school shootings: turn schools into fortresses, defended by armed guards against intruders. It is a solution based in the inability to solve the greater problem of weapons and mental health.
Democrats offer solutions based in hope rather than fear. The pandemic can be controlled. The climate problem can be solved. Our institutions can be altered to end discrimination. And instead of fortifying our schools, we should fix the problems that create school shooters in the first place.
Hope versus fear, the 21st Century versus the 1950’s, America as a leader rather than cowering: those are the choices we face in 2020. Joe Biden will lead the Democratic ticket, but behind him there is something even more powerful: the Women of Democracy. And they will carry the day.
