The media has already decided: Beto O’Rourke is the one. And he seems to
have begun surveying “the women” to see who might be a good running
mate. “It would be very difficult not to select a woman, with so many
extraordinary women who are running right now,” O’Rourke told reporters in
Iowa. Thanks, Beto, but women in the 2020 presidential field are running to
become the leader of the free world, just like you.
If we really want to elect a woman president of the United States, or at least
give the women who are running in 2020 an equal playing field as men who are
running, we need to call three things out right now:
MEDIA:
- Stop featuring O’Rourke so prominently
- Do not lump all the “the women” candidates together
- Do not cast –or let other candidates cast –women running as vice-presidential hopefuls
Beto is already the media darling
I have heard various pundits rationalize that “Because he is so handsome,”
people want to look at Beto O’Rourke and the Annie Leibowitz cover of Vanity
Fair is doing nothing but advancing the well-worn narrative of the individualistic
male leader. Why is there not a cover featuring a woman who is running for
president?
Isn’t that the real story and picture of progress? As Margaret Sullivan from
The Washington Post noted, “Most Americans wouldn’t
see the magazine itself, of course, but the rest of the news media — including
network evening news — helped spread the image around as they gave over-the-
top coverage to O’Rourke’s kickoff.” Media: You are doing it again. Stop it.
Women are not monolithic!
The media is covering women running as a group, and so far no woman in the
race is being singled out for anything, except for Amy Klobuchar toughness,
portrayed as meanness.
Vice is Not Nice This Early in the Race
Casting women presidential candidates as vice presidential hopefuls is
nothing new. Back in 1988 Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum, who by then had
served ten years in the Senate was often mentioned as a vice-presidential candidate,
even though she had as much or more experience than men running for president.
A number of articles undermined Elizabeth Dole’s ethos as a presidential
candidate in 2000 by describing her as more likely to be better suited for the vice
presidency, rather than the presidency. Hillary Clinton’s campaign effectively
confronted this phenomenon in the primary season by suggesting that Barack
Obama would make a good vice president. Only once it was certain that Barack
Obama was the nominee did the Hillary Clinton camp allow media speculation that
she could be a vice presidential contender. If the United States is ever going to level the
playing field in politics, we need to get these media missteps corrected. Fast.
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