TEAM "SUPERMAJOIRTY" reacts to the July 2019 Democratic Debates
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“Here's what three of our co-founders heard (and didn't hear):
From Ai-jen:
"When you look at the country through the eyes of women, you see both our problems and potential solutions in a different, more complete way. Both women and men running for office need to listen to women -- women of color, queer and trans women, working poor and incarcerated women -- because of what these experiences teach us about how to address inequality in America.
As the debates continue, many important issues and solutions have surfaced. The concerns of women are rising in the conversation -- and we should celebrate that issues like equal pay are being discussed by people who want to be president. But our concerns are not yet at the forefront of the conversation, and the solutions the candidates are championing are not yet directly informed by listening deeply to us. It's time to focus our organizing on that.
Every candidate should know that we are listening -- and waiting for more."
From Alicia:
"This week's debates were really a referendum on the vision of the Democratic Party and how closely that vision matches the needs and dreams of Americans who want to have a better life and a new effective approach to solving persistent problems.
We all deserve political parties that are visionary and yet grounded in the everyday realities that our families face. We should expect that it isn't just women running for president who can be literate about gender inequality, just as we should expect that it isn't just Black people or people of color who can speak to how to achieve racial equity and racial justice in our country. This week's debates were telling in that some of the candidates clearly laid out a new vision for America where all of our families belong, and some of the candidates had a difficult time with that task.
Overall, it's likely time to start narrowing the field. I'm looking forward to clearing out some of the chatter and getting clearer about the differences between the policy agendas and positions of the various candidates. This election will determine policy in America for the next decade -- and as we get closer to the primaries, it will be incumbent upon all candidates to lay out clear plans and methods to achieve those plans. Now that election season is fully underway, I'm less interested in platitudes and talking points -- I want to hear how well you understand what it means for me as a Black woman to navigate our economy, our democracy, and our society, and I want to know what you will do to remove the barriers that I face to achieving my dreams."
From Cecile:
"There were a lot of important issues discussed, from health care access to racial justice. But considering the fact that there were nearly six hours across two days to debate topics on the minds of Americans, the moderators could barely squeeze in a single question about "women's issues" -- or rather, major issues that are keeping so many women and their families up at night. There wasn't a single question on how to make child care affordable, how to ensure no one has to choose between a paycheck and caring for a loved one, or how to end the maternal mortality crisis. These are majoritarian issues that deserve equal consideration.
And what about reproductive rights? As women across the country are fighting to maintain the basic right to make decisions about their bodies and access safe and legal abortion, the issue wouldn't have been mentioned at all in this debate were it not for a woman candidate bringing it up herself."