“Mom.” My youngest child stared down at me from the top of the banister. Neon-orange pajamas illuminated his body like a nightlight for me to walk toward as I climbed the stairs with his bedtime water in one hand and his blankie in the other, the latter retrieved after another round of the time-honored bedtime game, “Where’s My Blankie?”

“Yehhhhhhhs?” My drawn-out acknowledgement of his demand reflected my sense that whatever was going to follow his, “Mom,” was going to be something deadly serious to him and take-a-deep-breath-cute-and-amusing to me.

“Mom.” Please tell me that I am not the only mother who melts in the face of serious emphasis from a third-grader. “I noticed that you have a book on your night table called, How to Win a Local Election."

Rats. 

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Last week, I had the extreme honor of talking to the Mayor of LaMarque Texas, Geraldine Sam on WomenCount Radio. A woman who has taught first grade for the last 24 years and continues to do so while serving her term as Mayor of LaMarque. She has run for office as both a Democrat and as a Republican and is an eloquent example of what true bipartisanship really is. Read More...

Although I strongly feel women are needed on all levels of public office - from city councils all the way to congress (and beyond) - there is one area of that seems to suffer from lack of women candidates even more so than others: the governor's seat. Read More...

In 2004, the state of New Jersey ranked 43rd in states, based on women’s representation in state legislatures. However, in five short years, seven assemblywomen and two female senators have gained seats in the New Jersey legislature, tying it with the state of Nevada for 7th place among the states, with 31.7 percent women in each legislature, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Read More...

It doesn’t really matter how many times I come across examples of gender bias in the media, in politics, and even in my own life because there are still moments that make me want to place my head in my hands and sigh. One of those moments was almost two weeks ago during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Africa.

 

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