No Woman POTUS, Not This Time

And then there were none… Elizabeth Warren is the last viable woman to suspend her candidacy.

It is so remarkable that after such a large group of diverse individuals announced their candidacy for POTUS in 2019, and after numerous debates that continued to cull the pool of possibilities, we have reached the end of these possibilities. We are now faced with two older white men to run against our old white man POTUS. Elizabeth Warren called it quits on Thursday, March 5, 2020, as she failed to win the majority in her own state of Massachusetts. How could this be? Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg both suspended their candidacies after the South Carolina primary realizing they had very narrow paths to be The Nominee, and both jumped on board with the Biden camp immediately endorsing him and speaking at rallies before Super Tuesday. The same day another early favorite, Beto O’Rourke jumped on the Joe wagon and also rallied for the Vice President. Elizabeth Warren had remained in the game for this huge voting block to make their decisions on Super Tuesday, then realized she too saw no real path to the presidency. The country is banking on known characters to lead them to victory over our despicable incumbent POTUS. No one else could get footing, really. And why, is, that???

I’m writing this on International Women’s Day established on March 8, 1913, aimed to help nations worldwide eliminate discrimination against women. Ironic that we recently lost our last hope for a female POTUS, what the world indeed needs now, to help heal all the ragged edges associated with the present administration. Are we, as a nation, afraid of a bright younger candidate just because she is female, or gay, or black or brown? The group of very talented men and women who have participated in this campaign season is staggering. Wikipedia tells us, “Overall, there were 29 major Democratic presidential candidates in the 2020 election. The debate in Westerville, Ohio, on October 15, 2019, featured 12 candidates, setting a record for the highest number of candidates in one presidential debate. As of March 5, 2020, 26 candidates have dropped out of the race, and three major candidates are still seeking the nomination: Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Tulsi Gabbard.” You may remember some or all of them. I had different favorites along the way. In the end we are left with just two viable candidates. Yes, Tulsi Gabbard still has not suspended, but unless both Biden and Bernie suddenly fail to appear or drop dead, she really has no chance at all. You can see a complete list of candidates on this page.

So many countries around the world have voted for female heads of state, the list is long and can be viewed here. They include a woman from the Ukraine, of all places, that became head of state in 1913! Yet here we are still electing mainly white males, excluding Barack Obama, who was indeed of mixed race with a white mother and black father. Women have gained some respect by being a big part of our congressional representatives thanks to the 2018 surge that secured the House of Representatives for the Democrats. The race for POTUS started out so promising with Kamala Harris, Marianne Williamson, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, and a host of younger eligible candidates on the male side including Steve Bullock, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Michael Bennet, Andrew Yang, Beto O’Rourke and others. I personally liked Tom Steyer who is a billionaire yes, who lives in California and runs the NextGen America environmental nonprofit and Need to Impeach super PAC. He couldn’t break through during the debates or otherwise. So here we are, choosing between Joe Biden, 77, and Bernie Sanders, 78, running against the incumbent who is 73. I’m in my late 60’s and I KNOW I have had better years physically and mentally. I’m not saying older age HAS to impede one’s functions, but with all the previous possibilities the voters this cycle are definitely going for the ones they know, or think they know – because they have been in the press or have other status. Maybe the voting masses just listen to sound bites on Fox News or get their info from Facebook? Who has time to read or investigate online sources? Frankly, either candidate has my vote as it is my fervent belief that four more years of this pathological liar-in-chief will cause permanent damage to our democracy and our world.

One can hope that the eventual nominee WILL win the election and go on to form an administration that is populated by experienced people who can lead our nation into the future tackling climate change, big corporations, our health care disaster, infrastructure, education, and environmental challenges, to start. One can hope that the eventual nominee will select a qualified woman, maybe even a black woman, to be his running mate. All bets are off in this campaign cycle. We’ve seen so many bright young candidates get pushed aside, who knows how this election cycle will end? To all the women out there, keep on keeping on. Elizabeth, we heard you, we love you, we hope you are one of the chosen. May the force be with us as we all grapple with the Corona Virus and all that it may cause, all who it may affect, all that may happen because of its quickening advance in our country. We are living in very precarious times, for many reasons. This election is more important than any other in our lifetimes. Please take the time to consider your vote. The way Trump is handling the COVID-19 pandemic should be a wake-up call to everyone. He is worried about numbers, not the people. He is worried about his own reelection, not the health of his followers or American citizens. The time is NOW to change course and avoid the huge disaster we are approaching with POTUS at the helm.