Silly Season has begun

It's almost Labor Day, when campaign season officially begins, but any serious candidate has been working all summer, getting their team into place, raising money, testing messages on friendly audiences, hiring consultants and staff, or just lining up volunteers, endorsements and donors for the fall push.

There are no "big" races on this off-year ballot. But in this business, all races are big, no matter the scope of the office. For instance, in a local sewer board race, as reported in the last Campaign Slut blog post, the louts are out already, denouncing the very real possibility that a female majority may be elected this year.

Yes, this is nearly 100 years since women got the right to vote. But it is 41 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress, and that (equal rights for women, oh scary!) has never been ratified by the States. If we don't start electing more women, and yes, some female majorities in some jurisdictions, will we ever attain full equality? The answer to that, I fear, is obvious.

What we get, instead, is more and more male legislators behaving badly, Republican and Democrat alike. The jury is still out on whether Eliot Spitzer, can make a political comeback after the infamous "Client No. 9" scandal, while others like serial "sexter" Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner do not even have the good grace to look chagrined. (Yes, Filner resigned under pressure, but managed to get the City to pay his legal fees, which I'm sure he thought was the least they could do for him, poor baby).

It's no wonder they call it "Silly Season."  And it's no wonder, fewer women than men run. Even though it has been proven time and again that when women do run for office, they win in the same proportions as the men. And, very few of them, if any, have their political careers derailed by scandal. 

Go ahead and Google it; I found none, nada, zilch, at least that were worth reporting. When enough women run, female majorities will no longer be the exception. We are more than 50% of the population. And who know, with more women in office, maybe dignity and respect will return to the job?

So is it any wonder the men are afraid to see female majorities? It may mean playtime is about to be over.