Let’s talk about the woman question
By Elizabeth Warren
When I first ran for office in 2012, there were plenty of naysayers who didn’t think I could beat Scott Brown.
There was a big, dark cloud hanging over our heads: Massachusetts had never elected a woman as senator or governor. Scott Brown had just defeated a well-qualified woman who everyone thought would win. And, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a woman.
So when I thought about jumping into the race, I heard this over and over again: “Don’t run. A woman can’t win here. Not yet.” I heard from a lot of women who were afraid that it would be too painful to see another one of us go up against him and lose. That it would set all of us back.
But then someone told me something different: “If we don’t run, if we don’t try, we can’t win. And we can’t blaze a trail for the next woman who comes along either.”
So I got into the fight. We started out behind by 17 points, but we got organized. We built the biggest grassroots campaign Massachusetts had ever seen. Whenever I’d meet little girls on the campaign trail, I’d tell them, “I’m running for Senate — because that’s what girls do.”
We proved the naysayers wrong: We won by 7.5 points.
I’m not afraid to jump into a tough fight, and I’m running for president because we’re going to make Washington work for everyone — not just those who are wealthy or well-connected.
