by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

January 31, 2008

Representing at least two generations of women in politics, four panelists had advice for women hoping to become office holders or policy makers: Get involved in a campaign and work hard for the candidate of your choice and then work on the relationship you develop. Don’t be afraid to ask women in politics to meet you for coffee so you can “pick their brains.” And take advantage of the programs that are out there designed to get women into politics (see sidebar).

Women, 135 to be exact, packed Temple Emanu-El of West Essex in Livingston on Jan. 23 for Women in New Jersey Politics, a symposium sponsored by National Council for Jewish Women, Essex County Section. Four women offered their views on what it’s like in the field now and how the power dynamics have changed.

The panelists included Nancy Becker, the first New Jersey woman to launch her own public affairs firm, now retired; Ellen Davenport, who is serving her third term as secretary of the NJ State Senate and served as mayor of Maplewood; Julie Kashen, Gov. Jon Corzine’s deputy policy director; and Mada Liebman, director of community and constituent relations for the NJ Department of State.

Energized by Sen. Hillary Clinton’s serious bid for the White House, they also were heartened by statistics showing that despite New Jersey’s notoriously poor record of women government leaders, gains had been made, and a record number of women candidates ran in the 2007 legislative elections.

Kashen, at the beginning of her career, offered a good counterpoint to the more seasoned perspectives of the other panelists.

None of them pursued politics right out of college, as Kashen did, or thought it was “natural” to pursue any career that engaged their interest. Becker, Davenport, and Liebman set out on the path to involvement in politics later in life and that journey was more circuitous, if not completely serendipitous — although at least two of them were politically aware as children through their parents’ involvement.

“I grew up thinking Election Day was a national holiday, and I thought everyone voted,” said Davenport. She became a teacher, and promptly stopped working, as was the custom, when she became pregnant. She entered politics only after her children were born.

By contrast, Kashen studied political science in college and two days after graduation headed to Washington, DC, where she landed a job on Capitol Hill. She has been pursuing a career in politics ever since.

More pointedly, the older women faced blatant discrimination once they arrived in the political arena, a challenge Kashen never had to confront.

When Becker first entered the field as a lobbyist, what she encountered was blatant “sexual harassment.” Although, she said, “nobody knew what that meant, believe me, there was a lot of it.” Becker vividly recalled a meeting with one senator. He was wearing cowboy boots and put his feet up on the desk and said to her, “Why don’t you go home and have some babies?”

But she pointed to “tremendous” changes over the last 35 years, especially during the tenures of NJ governors Tom Kean and Christine Todd Whitman.

Whitman “had the first woman chief of staff; she had the first woman attorney general,” said Becker. “She then had the first woman as chief justice of the [NJ] Supreme Court. Soon it began to be a competition between the Republicans and the Democrats who could appoint more women to powerful positions.”

All four panelists agreed there has been progress but pointed to areas where women lag behind, particularly with regard to money.

For example, in one job, Kashen learned that her predecessor, a man of the same age and with the same degrees, had earned more than Kashen was earning.

When she asked someone about it, she was told her predecessor’s salary had been based on what he had been making in his previous job. The message: unequal pay for equal work, once begun, would always be perpetuated. “I ultimately got a raise” up to his level, she said, but she also suggested that women often shy away from asking for high enough salaries and do not negotiate well when it comes to their paychecks. While Kashen said she believes there is discrimination in pay, it’s up to women to “ask for what we’re worth.”

Panelists also considered the impact of Clinton’s candidacy.

“I’m a Republican for Hillary Clinton. I want this in my generation,” said Becker.

Kashen said she wonders what it would be like to “be ourselves. If that is emotional, is that okay? Can I be a powerful leader and cry? Hillary Clinton is a very interesting case because she is strong and tough all the time, and she is criticized — when she breaks down, we say, ‘Oh she’s too weak.’”

But, she said, she sees light at the end of the tunnel. “The more and more women in positions of leadership,” said Kashen, “the more we are showing women as women can be leaders.”

Kashen acknowledged she has been so involved in her career she has not taken the time to marry or have children. The other panelists have grown children. Asked about opportunities in the years between, when women have young children at home, the panelists gently dodged the question.

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How to get involved

ACCORDING TO the panelists, there’s no substitute for working on a campaign and developing relationships, and even taking someone you would love to have for a mentor out for lunch or coffee to pick her brains. But there are formal programs designed to help women get involved in politics:

• The Center for the American Women and Politics at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics (732-932-9384)

• CAWP’s Ready to Run: Campaign Training for Women (732-932-9384)

• The Christine Todd Whitman Excellence in Public Service Series (609-397-1004)

• JWIN, Jewish Women’s Involvement in the Political Process, a newly established project of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey, in cooperation with Hadassah and NCJW (see related story).