Between the P.U.M.A.s and La Palin, one would think that if this election season had taught the women's movement anything, it would have been that having a government that pushes for and fairly represents the interests of women is not necessarily related to having women in the government — let alone in proportion to their percentage of the population. Unfortunately, one would be wrong. And Hillary Clinton's primary loss still continues to smart for some women, despite her elevation to the highest cabinet position and to the line of Presidential succession today. As seen in a new story on Reuters:

"Secretary of State has become the women's spot — a safe expected place for women to be. In the ideal world, we'd see woman as Treasury secretary and throughout these ranks (of government)," [Carol Jenkins, president of the Women's Media Center] said.

So the Secretary of State — our face to the world at large, and the first Cabinet member in the Presidential line of succession — is now a soft position? Get a grip! If by virtue of the fact that two of its last three incumbents were women it's now a "girly" position, then we're all contributing to the ghettoization of jobs by making them supposedly too easy for a man to do. Gross.

Stacy Mason, the executive director of WomenCount, is similarly unenthused about the Year of the Woman.

The record number of women in Congress in the new session that opens in January still reflects small net gains in the November elections — one in the U.S. Senate and three in the House of Representatives. As of now, women will number 17 in the 100-member Senate and 74 in the 435-member House. One Ohio race was so close it has not yet been decided.

"It's a really really dismal number ... the U.S. still ranks 83rd in terms of the number of women in elected office," said Mason.

It is not a great number, but, as has been noted before, the number of women who hold political office in a country is hardly the way to judge their equality, positions in society or opportunities. Furthermore, many of us would probably agree that we'd rather elect 100 Joe Bidens or Barack Obamas than 100 Sarah Palins to Congress — let alone Marilyn Musgraves or Liddy Doles. Both of those women lost re-election to other women, which resulted in no net increase in the number of women in Congress but significantly improved the representation of progressive women's issues.

So, while we're more than happy to see more women running for and elected to office, let's all take a deep breath and recognize that if the women's movement is supposed to be one for rights and equality, electing women to office cannot be the be-all, end-all measure of success. Then let's take a deeper breath and think about the fact that of the first 2 people in line for succession to the Presidency, two of them are women. Yes, there are gains to be made — necessary gains, even — but insulting the position of Secretary of State, bemoaning the loss of women without consideration given to their politics and generally insisting on unattainable goals before being able to crack a smile about the achievements of other women aren't going to get us there.

Women See Clinton Job As Triumph, Disappointment [Reuters]

Related: United States Presidential Line Of Succession [Wikipedia]

Earlier: As Far As I'm Concerned, Former Ms. Editor Elaine Lafferty Can Go F-ck Herself
Sarah Palin: When Choosing A Woman Might Not Be Choosing For Women
Do Women Want Equality Of Outcomes Or Opportunities?

Gentlewoman-To-Be Of The House

Kathy Dahlkemper (D) will be the new Congresswoman from Pennsylvania's 3rd District, having beat out incumbent Congressman Phil English for the honor of representing the district. A long-time resident of Erie but a first-time campaigner, she and her husband, Dan have 5 kids.

Marcia Fudge (D) will be coming to Washington as the new Congresswoman for Ohio's 11th District, filling the seat but not (yet) the shoes of deceased Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. She was Jones' chief of staff and has also served as the mayor of Warrensville. She'll also be up for a special election to fill the remainder of Jones' term on November 18th.

Debbie Halvorson (D) will be representing Illinois' 11th district, having beaten Marty Ozinga in the race to replace retiring Republican Jerry Weller. She's served in the Illinois state Senate since 1996, and we all know what can happen to good Illinois state Senators after yesterday!

Lynn Jenkins (R) beat out incumbent Nancy Boyda (D, sniff) for the right to represent Kansas' 2nd district. He first term in the state House left her hungry for more, so she ran for state Senate two years later. She never completed her Senate term, running (and winning) the State Treasurer's seat in 2002. She won re-election in 2006 and then beat Jim Ryun, the incumbent that Boyda toppled in 2006, in this year's primary.

Ann Kirkpatrick (D) beat out Sydney Hay for the right to show the citizens of Arizona's first Congressional district that not every elected representative needed to be as corrupt as their retiring Congressman, Republican Rick Renzi. Born on the White Mountain Apache reservation, she spent much of her career as a prosecutor and won a set in Arizona's House in 2004 and 2006 — a seat she resigned to pursue her interest in higher office.

Suzanne Kosmas (D) beat out the 24th district of Florida's Republican Congressman Tom Feeney. Feeney oversaw the post-Census redistricting as the former State House Speaker and used his role to draw himself a nice, safe little Congressional district. Whoops. Kosmas, who served with Feeney for two of her eight years in the state House and, despite her challenger status, nearly matched him in fundraising (which is quite an accomplishment in and of itself).

Cynthia Lummis (R) beat out Democrat Gary Trauner in the race to replace Barbara Cubin in Wyoming's sole Congressional district. Lummis is a statehouse veteran, having been (in 1979) the youngest woman to ever serve in Wyoming's legislature. She served 14 years as both a House and Senate member, and then served 2 terms as State Treasurer (from 1999-2007).




Betsy Markey (D) beat out anti-gay advocate and incumbent Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave to represent Colorado's 4th Congressional district. Musgrave is perhaps best known for her persistent and unwavering support for and sponsorship of legislation to create a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage forever and ever. Markey and her husband moved to Colorado from Washington D.C. in 1995, but this is her first race for federal office.

Chellie Pingree (D) beat Charlie Summers for the right to Democrat Tom Allen's seat in Maine's first Congressional district. Allen waged an ultimately unsuccessful campaign this year to unseat incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. Pingree herself challenged Collins in 2002, after having served the maximum 4 terms (8 years) in the state Senate (1993-2001). After that, she was the national president and CEO of Common Cause from 2003-2007, a position she left to run for Congress.

(Alice) Dina Titus (D) will represent Nevada's 3rd district next year, having beaten incumbent Congressman Jon Porter yesterday. She's a PoliSci professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and has served at the state Senate minority leader since 1993 (she's been in the Senate since being elected in 1988). She challenged corrupt, waitress-groping Republican Jim Gibbons in the 2006 gubernatorial race but lost because apparently Nevadans sometimes like that sort of thing.

The Gentlewomen-To-Be Of The Senate

New Jezebel favorite Kay Hagan (D) whomped incumbent Senator Elizabeth Dole last night despite Dole's efforts to paint her as a godless heathen who couldn't be trusted. Hagan has been a state Senator since 1998, and this is her first run for federal office.

Former Governor Jean Shaheen (D) won her re-match against nepotism-beneficiary and incumbent Senator John Sununu last night. She previously served in the State Senate (1990-1996) and 3 terms as governor (1996-2002) before losing that year's Senate race to Sununu. Before challenging him to a rematch, she was the director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Madame Governor

Beverly Perdue (D) woke up this morning as the Governor-elect of the State of North Carolina. She will be the first female governor of the state — a feeling she might already be used to, having been its first female lieutenant governor for the past 8 years. She started her political career in the state House in 1986, moving to the Senate in 1990 and taking the gavel of the Appropriations Committee in 1995. She'll be one of 8 women governors this year, though the rest are incumbents.

Maybe Ladies?

There are actually two House races that remain undecided!

Darcy Burner (D) is, at this hour, down by about 1,500 votes in her bid to unseat Congressman Dave Reichert. This is only her second campaign — she left Microsoft in 2004 and ran against Reichert in 2006, losting by less than 3% of the vote.






Mary Kilroy (D) is, at this hour, down by about 12,500 votes (4.5%) in her race against Steve Stivers to replace retiring Republican Congresswoman Deborah Pryce. She's been active in local politics for more than 15 years, but her first bid for federal office was in 2006, when she failed to unseat Pryce by barely 1,000 votes.

Some Minor Gains For Women in Politics [Feministing]
Candidate date from CNN's Election Center