Let’s Hear It For the Girls’ Triple Play
Posted: December 6, 2011 Filed under: Elections, Feminists, House of Representatives, Injustice system, Senate, U.S. Politics, Women's Rights | Tags: 2012 elections, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, Wenona Benally Baldenegro, women on the move 13 Comments
We’ve all been following Elizabeth Warren’s bid for the Senate seat in Massachusetts with giddy expectations. And the landscape looks very promising with Warren gaining substantial contributions from small donors, comprised primarily of women and middle-to-low income voters. No particular surprise. For moderate to liberal women, she speaks their language regarding equity, education, health care and basic fairness. For moderate to low-income voters, she is a champion for economic justice and cleaning up a corrupt system stacked against those left behind economically. She is a woman of the moment and has put Scott Brown and his Wall Street backers into a political scramble. Brown is reportedly 
polling below 50%–not a good statistic this far out.
But in addition to Warren, we have a couple of other very attractive female candidates running for the House and Senate in 2012.
One candidate I recently read about is Wenona Benally Baldenegro, a Native American running for the 1st Congressional District in Arizona. Ms. Baldenegro, having grown up on the Navajo Reservation in northern Arizona., is intimately familiar with the challenges of poverty and low expectations. She has said quite clearly that current Republican policy would balance the Federal budget on the backs of the middle-class, working class and elderly. Baldenegro is a role model for all Americans. Despite her modest beginnings, she is well credentialed, holding a law degree from Harvard as well as a Masters from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy’s School of Government. If successful in her 2012 bid, she would replace Tea Party darling, Representative Paul Gosar, who recently suggested opening the Grand Canyon for uranium extraction.
Having been to the Grand Canyon [I can still recall the absolute awe experienced], I’ll say without qualification that this is exactly what we don’t need—another national treasure looted for its resources. Think BP’s hit job on the Gulf of Mexico. Or off-shore [because corporate greed and irresponsibility has no boundaries], TEPCO’s response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Enough is enough!
If elected, Ms. Baldenegro would be the first Native American to represent Arizona in DC and the first Native American woman ever to serve in the US Congress.
She’s definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Another promising candidate is Tammy Baldwin [Rep D-Wis], who will be running for Wisconsin’s open senate seat, a spot put into play by sitting Democratic Senator Herb Kohl’s scheduled retirement. Ms. Baldwin has been a vocal champion of the Wisconsin 
fight with Governor Scott Walker, his draconian measures against union employees, the shameless tax giveaways as well as the bitter war Walker has stoked against the state’s working class in general. Baldwin’s announcement early last month made clear that her focus would be on: Wall Street reform, US withdrawal from Afghanistan and economic justice for America’s working class.
Sounds like a winning combo!
Baldwin, holding a law degree from the University of Wisconsin, has served as a US Representative since 1999. It’s interesting to note that she voted against authorizing the invasion of Iraq [her vote’s actually on record unlike the present occupant of the WH] and she co-sponsored a bill calling for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Later, she proposed another bill to impeach Alberto Gonzales. She’s been a strong defender of women’s health and reproductive rights and has supported measures to strengthen the laws against sexual violence and violence against women.
She also happens to be openly gay, the first openly gay non-incumbent elected to the House of Representatives and the first woman elected to Congress from Wisconsin.
Btw, if Elizabeth Warren wins the 2012 race, she will be the first woman to represent Massachusetts in the US Senate.
Three women–smart, attractive, progressive. All three candidates hold law degrees, interesting backgrounds and a desire to serve the public, particularly the besieged middle and working-class. All three will attempt to break ground with a surprising series of ‘firsts.’ We should recall that women represent 51% of the population but are sorely under-represented in the halls of power.
We’ve come a long way but . . . obviously not far enough.
That being said, let’s hear it for the girls and their gutsy triple play!
peej
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Thanks very much and would love to keep informed about these three candidates. Sounds like a new populism is arising and it can’t come soon enough.
Yes, I agree. I hope you’ll keep doing this Peggy Sue.
Thanks Outis and BB. There’s plenty to scream and weep about but adding more progressive representatives to the House and Senate isn’t one of them. And that’s really of both genders. But the fact remains that there are so few women representing the majority of this country that Warren, Baldwin and Baldenegro deserve special mention and support, IMHO.
I’ll try to keep my ear to the ground on these three and any other quality candidates to announce for 2012. If we truly want a turn-around in policy and attitude then getting good people into the power seats is absolutely critical. If these three women are successful, a number of barriers will be broken–more cracks in that stubborn glass ceiling.
Great post, Peggy Sue. We definitely need more women in the Congress–especially in the Senate. I hadn’t heard that Baldwin was running for the Senate seat, and I have never heard of Baldenegro. I hope she wins!
Uranium mining in the Grand Canyong would be disastrous. What is wrong with these people?
I’m an Arizona resident who was a former Gosar supporter after meeting Wenona I switched to the Democratic Party to support her.
Little did I know when I voted for mild mannered Doctor Gosar that I would be getting Sarah Palin in the deal? There is not one polluting industry that Doctor Gosar does not support and there is no lifesaving regulation that he likes. Wenona is the only answer to return sane representation to CD1.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60663.html
Thanks for the additional information on Gosar. I’m an east coaster but a number of years ago my husband had a work conference in Phoenix. I flew out and met him and we rented a car and drove north through Red Rock country and then onto the Canyon, which deserves the name Grand [and so much more]. The very idea that anyone would even suggest opening up this sacred national treasure for resource extraction just set my hair on fire. This wonder belongs to the entire country, not a bunch of corporations with dollar signs in their eyes.
Then I found a short article on Wenona B.’s campaign and thought: well, here’s the remedy, just in the nick of time.
Keep us posted on what’s going on.
This is a wonderful article about Wenona Benally Baldenegro candidate for congress from AZ’s 1st congressional district in the Navajo Times.
http://www.navajotimes.com/politics/2011/112811candidate.php
Great link, Vera. Thanks for the additional information. Wenona was a new name for me but from what I’ve read she’s definitely a keeper. And Lord knows we need good, strong, capable people in DC. I’ll be watching her campaign and I’m sure others will too.
Greetings from the Hopi Indian Reservation:
Thank you for posting this article about our Wenona, It’s time to send someone to Washington who will work for us rather than the lobbyists. If Wenona wins she will be the first Native American woman to serve in congress.
Would you do me a favor and LIKE Wenona’s Facebook page and share it with all your friends. We need to make Wenona a household name.
Walk in beauty.
Hopipride
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003207642809&sk=wall#!/pages/Wenona-Benally-Baldenegro-for-Congress/154422081303955
“It’s time to send someone to Washington who will work for us rather than the lobbyists.”
I absolutely agree. And frankly, anyone who wants to open the Grand Canyon for any sort of extraction should not only lose in 2012 but be tarred and feathered on the way out. My best to Wenona B. and her campaign. The country’s desperate for good people to represent the public’s welfare and protect our national treasures.
This is what we are facing in Arizona, the one million acre uranium mine would be 3 miles from the Colorado River the main water source for 3 states.
Ops!!!
http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2011/10/lawmakers-push-to-lift-northern-arizona-uranium-mining-ban/
But just think, the Canyon might glow in the dark! Wouldn’t that be cool? Seriously, if the Grand Canyon is mined for uranium, as Paul Gosar and his ilk desire, we would run the risk of contaminating the drinking water of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Bullhead City, Laughlin, Yuma, Phoenix, and Tucson. That’s over 23 million people, and, of course, this would mean the destruction of one of the seven wonders of the natural world. Is it worth it? Wenona doesn’t think so. Paul Gosar doesn’t care. Ann Kirkpatrick probably doesn’t know. Support Wenona, and save our resources. Save our planet, and make Arizona a better place for people to live in.