Martha Coakley and The New Contender

In 2000 one of my all time favorite movies came out. The Contender stars Joan Allen as a female Senator tapped by the President to become the next Vice President of the United States after the current VP passes away. She then undergoes the long and painful vetting process where sordid details from her past come to light possibly causing her the job.

The sordid details? Pictures of her taking part in some sexual antics while in college at the age of 19. She takes the high road refusing to answer to the allegations one way or another, because they have no bearing on who she is today. In the years since this movie has come out I’ve come to love it more. It forces people to take a serious look at how women in politics are scrutinized and treated in a way men will never be.

I was completely disheartened over Martha Coakley’s loss in Massachusetts last night. How or why she lost is something we can speculate over and over again, but we won’t ever really know. Was the campaign not fought hard enough from the beginning? Was it because she wasn’t able to raise the same kind of money Scott Brown was able to raise, a constant problem for female candidates? Were people sick of the current state of affairs in Massachusetts or maybe wanting to stop health Care Reform any way they could? Or was it because she a woman?

Like I said, no one will ever really know for sure. But there is one thing I DO know. Had Martha Coakley posed nude for Cosmo, she never would’ve been able to run. In fact who’s to say she would’ve ever made it as Attorney General. Because a woman posing nude would spark the inevitable name-calling, questions of her morality and of her ability to hold office. But men don’t face that kind of scrutiny. Massachusetts proved that last night.

If you are a woman running for office or thinking of running for office, please don’t let Martha Coakley’s loss cause you to doubt your ability to win. Because you can. There has never been a better time for women to rise up. We are over half the work force, research has shown that we make better politicians; we strive to protect our children, our environment, and the world around us.

We are the change and the end to partisan bickering. We are the ones to make sure education is the top priority and that fairness and equality finds it’s way to every single American. Ladies, we ARE the true Contenders.

Let Martha Coakley’s loss be your reason to run.

This post is a cross-post from WomenCount.org 

Meghan Harvey is the New Media Producer & Host for WomenCount Radio, she can also be found blogging at Meg's Idle Chatter. 

Comments

[annie]

I just had this argument with guy on Facebook. He thought the Cosmo nude thing was no big deal, but I pointed out to him that had Brown been a woman there was no way he could have escaped a butchering . Woman are expected to be pristine, Barbie right out of the box. Men can eff up, say "sorry" and go on to stellar heights.

I don't personally think the Cosmo photo is a big deal. It's the double standard that ticks me off.

[Meghan Harvey]

Exactly! I wouldnt hold something that someone did almost 30 years ago against them. We do have to recognize that it would have been held against any woman who had pictures like that turn up, and its not ok! We need to change that double standard.