SOMETIMES THERE IS A WATERSHED MOMENT IN HISTORY WHEN IT BECOMES CLEAR
THAT THINGS MUST CHANGE AND LEADERS MUST ACT. THAT MOMENT IS NOW FOR
THE WOMEN OF THIS COUNTRY.
THE LESSONS OF THIS CAMPAIGN WERE ABUNDANT:
• As the economy became the single most critical issue in the election, the role that
women play in our economic structure has never been clearer. Women are the
backbone of the nation’s workforce and control 70 percent of its buying power.
• The candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, while inspiring women and girls
around the country to imagine what can be, exposed extreme gender bias in the media
and throughout our culture.
• Women, who make up 56 percent of the voting population, were targeted as never
before as the critical bloc that would determine the outcome of the election.
In 1961, as the nation grappled with the issue of women in the workplace, President
John Kennedy convened the first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and
appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair. Kennedy recognized the moment was right.
That was 47 years ago, and it’s time to do it again. As in 1961, women are at the forefront
of our political discourse – and we are committed to keeping them there.
A record number of women are seeking ways to participate more fully in all aspects of
American life, politics and policymaking. A Presidential Commission on Women is the
right vehicle to initiate a national conversation on the future of women. If Not Now, When?
