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Welcome to the liveblog of the White House Project panel: Exercising influence at every level: How women leaders are making an impact, and why you need to join them. We're getting started.
Panelists:
- Erin Vilardi, Moderator
Vice President, Program and Communications, The White House Project - Lea Webb
White House Project Alumna and Councilwoman in Binghamton, NY - Susan Molinari
Former member of Congress
Erin Vilardi is introducing the session and saying a little more about The White House Project and how to get involved. Sign up on their website!
Introducing the panelists: Susan Molinari, who wrote Representative Mom: Balancing Budgets, Bill and Baby in the U.S. Congress, and Lea Webb, Councilwoman in Binghampton, NY and alumna of The White House Project.
Speaking first: Susan Molinari. She's starting with running for New York City Council. She was 28 and felt like she started-out late. (Note: her father and husband have also served in Congress, so she has a family history of politics.) She was the only woman elected and the only Republican, so she immediately became the minority leader of the city council. She was scared of speaking in front of the group, but she stood up and did it.
After serving in City Council four years, she ran for U.S. Congress. When she first started out in the House, she gave a big speech about defense. She made incredible news, but it was for the fact she was the first woman in Congress to wear pants. 1990. Not for her important tough-talking speech. The point here is when you're questioning yourself and your abilities, you have to fight even harder every day to not let that happen.
Think about the fact that you are sitting in this room right now either contemplating running for office, raising your voice for others running for office, or helping them run, remember women control economic power. When the recession is over, women will be staying in the workplace because it has shifted. Don't those women in the work force deserve to have more of us in office, regardless of their positions so we can have a better dialogue? And also remember in the last election, the majority of voters were women. They need representation.
Remarks from Lea Webb (some direct quotes, some paraphrased):
Half the battle is running for office, and once you get there, that's where the real work begins. The city council had a reputation of being a reality TV show. Our meetings were televised, so people would come down and yell at each other late into the night, all year long. At the same time, there were a lot of families leaving the area. My district hadn't had a grocery store in fifteen years. I had been working as a community organizer since the age of fifteen. I came from a family of activists, "aggressive progressives." My family emphasized hard work and giving back and that everyone had a role to play in the community.
I was encouraged by a lot of folks in my community, and I didn't want to run. When I was approached, I was 25. There was only one other woman on City Council, but no one young. There had never been a person of color elected in the history of my county, so I thought I should wait until I was 30. That was my rationale for waiting. People kept asking, "Why not now? You understand what our issues are and you are inviting us to the table to understand what the issues are for our community." Finally I said "why not now?" and I made a conscious decision about engaging a lot of people who hadn't voted in a long time.
My campaign was extremely grassroots. We had events at the park, asked for a dollar from some. We identified block captains on every block in my district, I ran in the Democratic primary. We had amazing voter turnout. With a former voter turnout of 6%, we had 24% because people felt a connection to me and because I was honestly trying to bring them to the table and tell them how important civic engagement was. My opponent created another party and ran again in the general election, and I had to beat him again. Then I became the youngest city council member.
Finally she gave a pitch for us to run, saying we need women who promote an environment of positive engagement and involvement with the community, and women tend to bring that with them. People - even those who disagreed with her - came up to her and said thank
