Political Commentary by Bettina Duval 

For the past few days I have been so disappointed that Hillary Clinton suspended her race for the Democratic presidential nominee.  I’ve gotten over my anger about how she was treated with a negative feminist spin, although it was very sexist at times and unnecessarily cruel in the portrayal of her character. Like 18 million other people, it’s an emotional time for me, but Hillary’s eloquent speech on Saturday was a perfect reflection of her dignity and grace.  This is why I still believe she would be a wonderful president and her campaign surely shows that a woman is capable of holding the highest office in America.

Friday night at a baseball game I was with a mother from my son’s elementary school when the conversation turned to the recent events in the Democratic campaign.  Without regard for the implications she declared, “Who cares about all those women who voted with their vaginas!”  I was stunned, but unfortunately not shocked. 

Sadly, this opinion isn’t uncommon among my fellow women voters.  It seems more and more in our haste to be politically correct; we’ve forgotten how important it is to be statistically balanced.  Women can’t achieve equal opportunity without equivalent representation.  You wouldn’t send in a soccer team of 5 to play against a team of 25 - it makes your chances of reaching the goal nearly impossible.  Simple right?

In my role as the founder of an organization that believes gender balance is important and I have been dealing with the declining figures of women in our California legislature each election cycle for the past 6 years.  CALIFORNIA LIST believes electing women matters and we are working hard to reverse the discouraging downward trend in our women electeds.  Please join us today - your membership can help us to make a difference.