Poll: Is It Easier or Harder for Women to Advance in Politics Than It Is for Men?
Do you think it's harder or easier for women to advance in politics than it is for men?
DEMOCRATS (90 VOTES)
Harder: 81%
Easier: 3%
No difference: 16%
Harder
"Depends on which office she is running for. It's usually a challenge for women to break into power-broker networks to raise money."
"All you have to do is look at the percentages of women in Congress and state legislatures and see that women have it tougher than men advancing."
"Old prejudices die very hard."
"Harder to get started. But advancing beyond entry level is getting easier."
"Women have to conform to a different standard than men—they have to be both accomplished and have stature AND personally connect with people. They are held to a different standard around appearance, and there are still pockets of voters who don't want to vote for women."
"Life is still unfair."
"Take a look around D.C., and that should answer your question."
"It's still, 'You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't.' Very few strong assertive females are treated the same as their male counterparts. They are labeled if they are outspoken."
"Men raise and give the money required for a modern campaign, but women are catching up on all fronts."
"They don't get asked to play basketball."
Easier
"The male brand is suffering, and the electorate will realize the time for women in politics is now."
No difference
"Let me point out that here in [New Hampshire], women occupy the positions of both U.S. senators, both members of Congress, governor, speaker of the House, Senate minority leader, chief justices of the Supreme and Superior courts, chair of the GOP, and on and on. In other words, women rule."
"Politics is hardball for everyone."
Do you think it's harder or easier for women to advance in politics than it is for men?
REPUBLICANS (80 VOTES)
Harder: 44%
Easier: 25%
No difference: 31%
Harder
"Women connect better, and often on a deeper level, with voters. The problem is, they have a harder time connecting with donors, which makes for a more difficult equation on the net."
"More to prove, and women usually get a later start or derailed because of kids and family."
"The times they are a-changin' but it takes time. It's harder for GOP women than Dem women."
"In a town where some elected men refuse to be alone with a female staffer, and other elected men take sexual advantage of their staff, and others hire only attractive women—it's a whole different ballgame."
"It's still a man's world generally in politics at all levels for a variety of reasons, including women having more family responsibilities than men and conservative women less likely to run, and tradition. However, the world is changing, and if Hillary runs in 2016 and wins, that could change the paradigm."
Easier
"Women are increasingly seen as problem solvers, not partisan fighters."
"At some point, the actual record counts. For good reasons, women are recruited."
"Talented women get noticed quickly in a sea of undifferentiated ambitious men. But the bar for them to compete and win isn't any lower."
"They are more engaged as a gender and more likely to persevere."
No difference
"Today, women are a plus in almost any race."
"In my home state, the entire congressional delegation, the governor, and the speaker of the state Legislature are all women. What was the question again?"
"We're living in the 21st rather than 19th century."
"No harder than any other competitive profession."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Democratic Political Insiders Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Larry Grisolano, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bob Maloney, Jim Manley, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Steve McMahon, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Michael Monroe, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O'Donnell, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jefrey Pollock, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Ed Rendell, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, Ryan Rudominer, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.
GOP Political Insiders Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Brian Baker, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Alex Castellanos, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Jonathan Collegio, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Jay Cranford, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Ed Ingle, Jim Innocenzi, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, Steven Law, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Kevin O'Neill, Connie Partoyan, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Terry Sullivan, David Tamasi, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, Fred Wszolek, and Matthew Zablud.
