Women's Work

How did you get from there to plans for a protest at the rules committee meeting?
Women were writing in saying, "We don't want to cry victim, we don't want to say this is a gender thing—we just want to ask why it's happening." So we decided to focus on May 31. It's not focusing on Hillary but speaking what's on the minds of these women, which is to honor the principle of every vote. There have been too many instances in the recent past where a small group of people determines the outcome of an election in which millions have cast their votes. To people in Florida, this is like instant replay. We cannot continue to go down that road.

What happens if the decision doesn't go the way you want? Will supporters grow disillusioned enough with the whole process to stay home on Election Day or vote for John McCain?
No, no. I hear people say, "Oh, I'll never vote for so-and-so," but I think that is just an emotional outburst. I don't think we have a divide that is unhealable. There's not even a chance that people will stay home on Election Day. There's all this talk of healing the party, but we don't have a sick party—we have an incredibly robust party. Everybody is going to have to say, "Enough is enough. We will not have another four years of George Bush." Every Democrat will come to that moment. If Obama is the nominee, I'll support him.

If Obama is the nominee, what's the right move for him to make?
We'll be saddened and we'll continue to individually support Hillary for as long as she chooses to go on. We are not bitter or crazy, but this cannot be a popularity contest. I think Senator Obama is a fine man, but he could use some seasoning, and it's evidence of his youth that he was so impatient. If he is the nominee, the talks about the vice presidency or any other area of particular concern for Hillary should be taken into consideration.

Was this ever a matter of Hillary Clinton being the first woman to have real shot at the White House?
We didn't organize around that principle at all. Supporting Hillary was not about her being a woman, although we admire her as a woman. But the underlying gender discrimination has been shocking. I've been disturbed by it. It's so hard for me to understand how we can be so outraged about racism, then allow the same undercurrent of gender bias to happen. I never considered myself a feminist. I guess I was one of those naive people who thought the women's movement had already done its job, since I had reached all of my professional goals and never felt really held back as a woman. But I don't think I understood the extent to which this wink-wink, nod-nod continues. But I think that all [this campaign] did is inspire women, since women realized their work is not done.

© 2008