My ideal primary candidate exists; she’s just not running

I was prepared to cast my vote for a woman in the 2020 primaries. In 2016, many women qualified their vote for Hillary by saying that they weren’t voting for her because she was a woman, but because she was the best, smartest, and most qualified candidate. While that was certainly true, being a woman was not an unfair rationale for why she could earn someone’s vote. Representation matters. Until I see a woman as president, I am not going to believe it is possible. Intelligence and experience also matter, but if I am deciding between candidates who have similar agendas and seem equally prepared to be president, I am voting for the woman. Until a few weeks ago, this did not seem like it would be presenting an issue for me in the 2020 primary. As Elizabeth, Kirsten, Kamala, and Amy all entered the race, I felt a general excitement. Surely, one of them would spark something in me that would make me willing to fight tooth and nail to get them elected.

Everything changed with Mayor Pete Buttigieg. When I first learned that a mayor from a city in Indiana had announced his candidacy, I rolled my eyes and thought “great, another white man thinks he can do a better job as president than these terrific female senators.” I considered him to be a total long-shot candidate and forgot about him. Then I watched a clip of him on Twitter. Then I watched his announcement video. Then I listened to his interview on Pod Save America. Then I watched his CNN town hall. Then I bought his book. Now I — the girl who swore up and down, left and right to vote for a woman — have found myself in a Students for Pete Facebook group and following him, his communications director, and his husband on Twitter. About half the day I consider emailing the campaign and asking if they’ll hire me this summer. The other half of the day I spend kicking myself because I like him so much; he is a man and I want a woman as my next president.

I am not alone with this internal struggle over being obsessed with the idea of a female president, but then being excited by a male candidate. I am sure that many women are experiencing the same dilemma with their love for Beto.

What is it about these smart, yet relatively inexperienced (when compared to the women running), white men that is making feminists like me who are desperate to have a female president so excited about their campaigns? Kamala, Kirsten, Amy, and Elizabeth are intelligent and experienced and WOMEN, so why am I not buying their books or sending my resume to their campaigns? I do not think that that is the question that needs to be answered. It is unnecessary to pick apart these women and their campaigns to determine why something inside me has not been sparked. There are already plenty of articles that can tell me why they are unlikable or have trouble connecting to voters. But I actually have almost no problems with any of them and would be overjoyed to cast my vote for any of them in the general election.

Here is my problem: I know that my ideal primary candidate exists, but she is not running. Why? Because women think they need to be overqualified to strive for anything; men assume that they’ll figure it out along the way. A Hewlett Packard internal report found that men apply for a job when they meet 60% of the qualifications, but women only apply if they meet 100%. This was well captured by Beto’s Vanity Fair quote “Man, I’m just born to be in it.” Can you imagine a woman saying that? Can you imagine a woman even thinking that? Women believe that they have to fight for every opportunity and even once they get it, aren’t totally sure that they are deserving. So that’s why my candidate isn’t running. It’s not because she doesn’t exist. It’s because she is either a lesser known congresswoman or in state or local government. She doesn’t have decades of experience, but she has great, progressive ideas and the people who know her and about her love her. And yet, no one is telling her to run. Without that push, she won’t do it.

So if no one else will push her, I will. If you, a young woman who may not be as experienced or well-known as other candidates, but are inspiring and smart, are considering running for president, DO IT. Give girls like me a candidate who we can not only look up to, but who we can relate to. Don’t wait for decades of experience. Throw your hat in the ring. Be the Mayor Pete or the Beto of women or just be yourself. Bring the new energy. Have only 60% of the qualifications but makeup for it with your passion and drive. If you’re out there — and I know that you are — you have my vote.