Herland Sister Resources

by NOW President Kim Gandy (from http://www.now.org/)

It’s hard to believe, but the Democratic National Convention is now less than a month away, and following right on its heels comes the Republican National Convention. This means the media are obsessing, as they love to do, about the presidential candidates’ potential running mates.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, appeared on Meet the Press on July 27 and was pressed by Tom Brokaw to discuss the criteria, timing and prospects for his selection for vice president. Obama refused to name any names, but he did offer this insight: “I want somebody who I’m compatible with, who I can work with, who has a shared vision…” 

Well, I hope that shared vision includes full equality for women, because some of the names that have been floated recently aren’t particularly reassuring.

We just had one of the closest primary contests I can recall — with every last state and territory seriously in play, and 18 million votes cast for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Feminist voters, women and men alike, backed Clinton because they believed she would have their backs if she reached the White House. They were confident that her VP, Cabinet and federal court selections would reflect the equality principles she espoused. Some of these voters almost immediately transitioned to Obama once Clinton threw her support behind the senator from Illinois. But other voters are still grieving the loss of a dream. Others are taking a wait and see approach, and one of the things they are waiting on is Obama’s VP pick.

One longtime NOW activist puts it this way, “I have my fingers crossed that Barack Obama picks a running mate who is a partner, who is capable of stepping in, and who is dedicated to the principles of equality.”

This week the press began pushing the story that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine was a likely choice to fill out the Obama ticket. Other names on the “short list” may include Senators Joe Biden from Delaware and Evan Bayh from Indiana, former Georgia senator Sam Nunn, governors Kathleen Sebelius (Kan.) and Janet Napolitano (Ariz.), and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska. Sen. Clinton’s name remains in the mix, but most prognosticators say it’s unlikely she’ll get the call. Indeed, Senator Clinton may well have taken her name out of the hat early on.

The New York Times puts forth a frustrating Catch-22 in the veepstakes, claiming that there’s little chance Obama will choose Clinton, but that hopefuls like Sebelius shouldn’t hold their breath either because “if a woman were to be placed on the ticket, could it be anyone other than Mrs. Clinton?” Um, because Clinton was such a strong contender, that should eliminate all other prospective Democratic female VPs from the field?

(For remainder of article, please visit http://www.now.org/.)