Brazile urges women to seize their moment in politics

National Democratic strategist Donna Brazile told a Madison audience Thursday that the moment for women in politics has arrived and urged activists to seize the kind of public stature “that makes us truly equal in our society.”

Brazile, who currently serves as the DNC’s vice chair of Voter Registration and Participation, delivered the keynote address at the 22nd annual Wisconsin Women in Government Banquet at the Alliant Energy Center.

She recalled a tumultuous 2008, in which she served as a superdelegate in a race that pitted a pioneering African-American candidate against a pioneering female candidate. Brazille told the audience that regardless of their votes in the spring or fall of 2008, “we broke the mold of what leadership looks like in this country.”

Despite several overtures to bipartisanship, Brazile effusively praised the new Obama administration for giving women “a seat at the table” after fighting against the Bush administration.

She said Obama’s new White House Council on Women and Girls is changing federal policy on gender issues and recalled being in the White House for two early pieces of legislation signed by Obama -- the Lily Ledbetter Act to prevent gender pay discrimination and the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“Women’s issues are now national issues,” Brazile said.

She added that three of Obama’s cabinet members -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson -- reflect the president’s commitment to women’s influence in government and predicted that he would soon nominate a woman to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

“One (justice) is a token number; one is window dressing,” Brazile said. “We need two, three, four, five women on the Supreme Court.”

Brazile also defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has come under fire from Republicans for her allegations that the CIA misled her in briefings on waterboarding. Brazile said that not only has Pelosi ensured women have a voice in Congress, but that she believes in “truth and justice for all.”

Brazile also recalled her upbringing in Louisiana, encouraging the audience to be role models for girls. She said her family was filled women who “weren’t mean, but they were tough.”

She said her sisters taught her not to be afraid of power, allowing her to seek out any assignment handed to her in politics.

“I’m looking forward to seeing women remake the whole world,” Brazile said. “We know that this is our moment. ... We must seize it.”

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