Commentary: Progressive Women Rising in Power
August 27th, 2008 Tony Robinson
Tuesday was the 88th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote—and here in Denver it was quite a celebration.
At the Convention Center, Emily’s List shared the news that 55% of the electorate will be women this year—the highest ever. The DNC Women’s Caucus met in a sprawling ballroom filled with a thousand energized delegates, celebrating the fact that about 60% of the overall Democratic vote every year is women.
At that very same moment, that same sentiment was sweeping down Denver’s Colfax Avenue. Just as thousands of Convention women celebrated their power and role in the Democratic Party, hundreds more women gathered to march down Colfax. Out in the streets passionate Hillary Clinton supporters had travelled to Denver from across the country to celebrate the woman who nearly claimed the presidency. They filled Colfax sidewalk to sidewalk, banged drums, chanted Hillary’s name, and promised to put a woman in the Oval Office within ten years.
And to cap it all off, on Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton addressed an adoring crowd of thousands in the Pepsi Center, in a moment that will be remembered through history in the same breath as suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton herself.
The growing power of women in American politics is big news for politics and great news for progressives.
Progressives should take heart in the growing political power of women, because women vote Democrat. Obama enjoys a 12% pre-convention lead among all women voters—while younger Millennial women voters give Obama an incredible 30-point lead. And here’s more good news for progressives. Younger women are now 57% of all college students. And as college graduates are increasingly female—they are likely to grow their civic participation even more. And the future female powerhouses of the country are even more liberal than senior women. 46% of young women believe that America’s growing racial diversity is entirely a good thing—only 30% of senior women think that. 36% of young women believe that it is good that the Christian tradition is declining in strength—since there are traditional notions of patriarchy embedded within it. Only 26% of senior women shared this idea. And 53% of young women believe in full acceptance and inclusion of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgendered in the community—while only 26% of senior women agree. As Hillary addressed the American people Tuesday night, she represented a real and fundamental transformation in American society. Like never before, the future of American politics is in the hands of women, and especially young women— progressives can take heart in the future these women will build.
KGNU’s national politics analyst, Tony Robinson, is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado Denver. You can find more at http://mypoliticscampaignblog.wordpress.com/
Advocates are concerned about human trafficking in the sex industry during the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver. 
