From SheKos’s diary

Huh. Guess there’s nothing actually in the platform about party outreach towards fielding more female candidates. (For the record, the passages on grooming more minority and LGBT Democratic candidates are equally nonexistent.) Maybe it never occurred to anyone running any of the platform hearings that women might face more obstacles to becoming viable political candidates than men or that a mechanism for creating a pipeline of female political hopefuls needed to be addressed as part of the platform.

Regardless of the reasons the issue was left out of the platform, the need for such a program is clearly urgent. At the national level, women comprise just 17.5% of the House of Representatives and 17% of the Senate – despite being approximately 50% of the population. Even more disheartening for us Dem chicks is the fact that we make up less than 23% of Congressfolk within our own party.

Now, when you consider that tapping into our female base for political recruits would significantly expand our pool of Democratic candidates and therefore increase our chances of putting more Dems in office, it just makes sense to assume that something somewhere along the line is keeping women out of that pool and start building a network of locally-based programs that help women develop the necessary skills to become successful candidates.

Enter Emerge America, “the premier training program for Democratic women.” Emerge operates as a network of state-based affiliates, the first of which – Emerge California – was founded in 2002. Eight years later, there are eight additional affiliates, including Emerge Kentucky, launched just last year.

Emerge America’s long-term goal is to launch affiliates in 50 states, with multiple Emerge affiliates in states whose geography merits that type of presence. Because we cannot go into all 50 states at once, we are prioritizing states based on a series of factors that include the benefit of Emerge to the Democratic party, organizational sustainability, and what we call “women friendliness.”

The program is geared toward teaching aspiring women pols the skill set needed to get elected.

In April 2009, the fledgling Portland chapter began outfitting Northwest women with the group’s tool kit for effective campaigning. 
A campaign is a unique animal,” explains Kathryn Firestone, Emerge Oregon’s executive director. “Our mission is about giving women the skills to compete in — and win — a race.”

According to Firestone, who cut her political teeth with a bid for the Oregon House in 2004, great ideas, integrity, and leadership skills go a long way once you’re elected, but waging a triumphant campaign demands an entirely different acumen. Emerge trainees, she says, plunge headlong into campaign boot camp: six weekends of skin-thickening 10-hour workshops on public speaking (for instance, gracefully “pivoting” around probing questions); fundraising (prepping a donor for the big ask); collaborating with labor unions (learn the mission and be honest about your commitment); and, yes, even glad-handing (memorize names and faces; make eye contact!).

To read the full post, visit: http://tinyurl.com/yyndp3l