Chicktastic

I had no idea so many women were on the ballot this year, but Shakespeare's sister clued me in:

"This year, more than 200 women began bids for Congress," reports USA Today. "Of those still in the race, 163 are vying for seats in the House and 18 for the Senate. Most are Democrats with 113 running in House races and 13 in Senate contests."

That's fantastic--out of 435 house seats up for grabs almost half had a woman run for the seat in the primary. Over 1/3 still have a woman in the race. Out of 33 Senate seats up for grabs over HALF have a woman still in the race.

People love to celebrate "firsts"--the first female senator, first female presidential candidate, first female Fortune 500 CEO, etc. I like the firsts, don't get me wrong, but what I really like are the 4ths, 14ths, and 156ths. Real progress is achieved when it's not a novelty anymore to have a woman on the Supreme Court, or a woman hired to run a major company, or a woman on a presidential ticket. At least in the case of Congress, despite a fair number of success stories of women who've been elected and have become real power-brokers and shakers, we still only represent a small fraction of either house. And the only way we'll ever see a female President in my lifetime is if we build up the pool from which to elevate the best and brighest women in the political "minor-leagues." So to see that so many women have been recruited as candidates, have felt the confidence necessary to run, and have received the support (financial and political) to be their party's nominee is quite heartening.

We're almost at the point where gender isn't an issue in a House or Senate race. Almost. That is a spectacular achievment and one that won't get the attention it deserves. I'm not even concerned with whether most of the female candidates are Democrats (they are) or whether they are running on pro-female platforms (not a clue).

Now if we could do something about Rep. Katharine Harris' need to remind everyone she's female and has great big boobs every single time she gets on a horse...