To win the elections, candidates must get their message to the public. For women, often this means changing the public perception of women in leadership and power positions.   

• In 2008, the mainstream media has exhibited several instances of sexism directed at Hillary Clinton.  Although some may say that the media attacks on Hillary Clinton are isolated to her and not directed at women in general, Nancy Pelosi and others have faced similar sexist remarks.  The Women's Media Center has put together a video of some of the most blatant examples of sexism in the media.  Clearly, the media perspective of women in leadership must change for more women to want to enter public office. 

• Research shows that women are more interested in issues, than "politics".  Several organizations help to identify women candidates and where they stand on various issues:

  Emily's List is focused on Democratic women candidates at the state and national level.

  The Wish List is focused on Republican women candidates at the local, state and national level.

  There are additional organizations focused at the state and local level. 

• One way to change public perception is to get more women visible on news shows.  This could show how women are changing the legislative agenda and changing the process to be more issue-focused and inclusive.  Research by the Center for American Women in Politics shows that women candidates tend to focus more on the issues and communicate more about the issues with their constituencies once elected. 

• We need to encourage women in the media to include politics in popular media.  In 2008, for instance, Glamour Magazine began a political blog, Glamoracy.  Other examples could be: women on soap operas running for Congress; movies depicting the great human struggle to win the vote.

• We should focus the national dialog on strengthening democracy through equal representation.  We need to emphasize the value of women’s perspective on issues, since women tend to bring a different point of view.  For instance, during difficult economic times men tend to focus on the unemployment rate.  Women tend to be more concerned about underemployment and lack of benefits.  On issues of national security, men tend to want to bomb the other guys.  Women tend to be more concerned about security closer to home: protecting the homeland and shielding the children, whether the threat is from the outside or from within.  These different perspectives can create better solutions to the critical problems facing our nation.