Let’s Hear It For the Girls’ Triple Play

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 1^st 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!