America’s lengthy election season is officially under way with an announcement that is very near and dear to our hearts at SJU; the Democratic National Convention (DNC) will be held in Philadelphia in July of 2016. Last time Philadelphia held a national party convention back in the year 2000, the city saw huge economic and commercial gains, and the hope is that the DNC next summer will benefit the city once again, and possibly even more.
After the national party convention announcements occur, major media outlets begin to speculate on who may run, and more importantly, who is “fit” to run. Most of these speculations are male dominated. While Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin always seem to be in the political spotlight, many other women who are more than qualified for a presidential bid get considerably less coverage than the male frontrunners.
This election season, consider all options. Many strong, promising candidates fall by the wayside due to lack of media coverage. Educate yourself and consider these more than qualified women, who deserve your vote in this upcoming election.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell (D)
Sylvia Burwell is our current Secretary of Health and Human Services. Secretary Burwell oversees over 77,000 employees who work with Americans from all walks of life. She has experience in both the private and public sector. She has served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, where she worked closely with congress to progress towards a smarter and more efficient budget. Before her time in the public sector, she served as the President of the Wal-Mart foundation in Bentonville, Arkansas, where she helped local families get back on their feet. She reached thousands of people desperately in need. During her tenure there, she amassed over one billion dollars in giving. She also was President of the Global Development program at the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, where she helped alleviate many global issues, including vaccinating impoverished children to agricultural development in local communities. Secretary Burwell has worked on both global and domestic issues, and is willing to use her knowledge acquired during her years in the public and private sectors to bring about a healthier, more unified, America.
Nikki R. Haley (R)
Nikki Haley most recently was re-elected as 116th governor of South Carolina (SC). Aside from this, she is also the first female governor, the first minority governor, and the only governor to be under the age of 43 in the entire United States. During her time in SC government, she has created job growth in almost all counties throughout the state, as well as a complete revamping in education policy for the counties with the poorest neighborhoods. Transparency is also huge for Governor Haley. In 2011, she signed into law a bill that would make state legislature’s votes known publically, so their constituents knew exactly what their representative was voting for. This system of having representatives show their votes on the record is making state government more accountable, and forces them to stay true to their constituents.
Aside from these two women, the list goes on and on. Local, state, and federal government is filled with both strong and qualified female candidates, waiting for a crack at the White House. And how will they get there? It is up to us to get educated, in order to make a woman in office, a reality. Spend maybe 10 minutes a day searching potential candidates or women in politics and learn who is the best for the job. So empower yourself, and empower these candidates, so that one day, we may see a woman sitting behind the resolute desk in the oval office.