Bob's Blog

The time has come for America to put a woman in the White House.

No, we should not elect people to the highest office in the land on the basis of their gender, but neither should we fail to elect people on the basis of their gender!  And that is what has happened in our country for the past 230 years.  Americans have refused to send a woman to the White House simply because she was a woman: and that must change!  So it’s time to elect a woman.

But what if she’s not the most qualified candidate?

First off, let’s stop kidding ourselves into believing that we only elect the ‘most qualified’ candidates to the presidency.  If we learned nothing from the election of 2016, we learned that!  Never the less, as of May 2019, each and every woman who has declared her candidacy for the presidency is as qualified as anyone else.  All of the leading contenders have enough legislative, administrative, international, political, and relational experience to qualify them for the office.  They are visionary, knowledgeable, and charismatic leaders, capable of moving one of the world’s greatest democracies into the next chapter of the American story.  So qualifications are simply not an issue.

But what if she’s not able to handle the pressure of the position?

To this question, I have one response!  They give birth!  My wife and I have begun watching “Call the Midwife” on Netflix, and episode after episode I see women doing the unimaginable — that which women have been doing since the beginning of time — giving birth!  When it comes to dealing with pressure: the pressures of life, of challenges and struggles, of issues facing both local families and the various nations of our world, women are no less or no more capable than men!  And if the women in your life have not revealed this to be the case, then you need to get out and get to know more women!  While I’m tempted to lift up countless studies that reveal this to be true, most people asking this question are likely people who do not want to to believe ‘studies’ – so I won’t go there.  Suffice it to say that fear of women not being able to handle the pressure of the presidency is also a non-issue!

But what if I prefer one of the men who are running?

Mayor Pete is no doubt an attractive candidate; and as a gay man his election would break all kinds of barriers.  Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are about as appealing a candidate as an old White guy can hope to be these days.  And Cory Booker’s “Obamaesque” personality makes him a tempting option as well.  But none of these men, or any of the others running, are any more attractive or appealing than any of the woman running.  Their proposed programs and platforms are not all that different than those of Kristen Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, or Kamala Harris; and each of them would likely surround themselves with some of the very same qualified and capable underlings.  While the American President is certainly more than a mere figurehead, in the end, Presidents can only accomplish what their party allows them to accomplish.  A Democrat is a Democrat!  And so who we prefer, or who we “like”, needs to become secondary to a more important message that needs to be sent to our nation, and to our world.

But what if you I just don’t think a woman can handle the responsibilities of the position?

If you’re honestly asking that question, then all I can say it you shouldn’t even be voting!

“Buts” abound.  I know.  But never the less, the time has come.  And considering the misogyny of the White House these days, who better to take HIS place, than HER!  So that is who I will be standing with — HER!  Whoever SHE is!  The time has come for us to put a woman in the White House.