A woman’s White House?
COMMENTARY
Erin Cooksley

The “Men Only” sign may soon be taken off the White House. Carol Moseley-Braun formally launched her bid for the presidency Sept. 22.

Moseley-Braun has announced she will file papers with the Federal Election Commission to allow her to begin raising money for the presidential race. But in order to take on President Bush, she first has to win the Democratic Party nomination. Moseley-Braun faces nine other Democratic candidates, all men, who are currently beating her in polls and in raising money. She and black rights’ activist Al Sharpton are the only black candidates.

If any woman is going to run for the presidency, Moseley-Braun holds a record that would be hard to beat.
In 1992, “The Year of the Woman,” Moseley-Braun stunned the political establishment after she unseated Illinois Democratic senator Alan Dixon. At age 55, Moseley-Braun was the first black woman to be elected to the Senate in November 1992. Her election was heralded as an advance for women and minorities in the political arena; however, she lost her bid for a second term in 1998. After her defeat, President Clinton appointed her ambassador to New Zealand. Now Braun is hoping to make history again in 2004.

The first question that comes to mind is whether or not she could actually win. I mean, this is definitely pushing the glass ceiling a little much to say a minority woman might run the country. But is the notion that far fetched? I don’t think so. With women and minorities becoming more prevalent in politics and in the corporate world, and increased female participation in the military, I think it was only a matter of time before we were to see a woman like Moseley-Braun running for a nomination.

This is an important step in politics for both women and minorities, and the focus should be taken away from her destination and put on her journey. Unlike the official campaign announcements by some of her rivals, Moseley-Braun took questions from Howard University students and reporters following her announcement speech. She tackled broad questions about children and poverty and moved on to even more specific questions about the command and control of U.S. troops in Iraq.

I think Moseley-Braun is setting the example that being a woman and a member of a minority does not make her any less competent to handle the White House and its presidential duties. Even if Moseley-Braun does not win the presidency or the Democratic Party nomination she is laying down the path for both woman and minorities to follow.

Erin Cooksley is a freshman political science major from Texas City.