Some of 2012′s most exciting races involve strong, progressive women who are leading the national conversation on not only on women’s issues but also things like the economy and LGBT rights.
Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono and Washington’s Darcy Burner are each known for standing up for workers, the middle class and equal opportunity for all. That’s why we’re excited to have the three of them on the big stage at Netroots Nation.
In a Friday lunchtime session moderated by the Huffington Post’s Amanda Terkel, Warren, Hirono and Burner will address the past year’s growing War on Women and the GOP war on the middle class. They’ll discuss what playing offense looks like for women and how election wins this fall will translate to policy victories in 2013 and beyond.
Storified by Netroots Nation · Fri, Jun 08 2012 13:39:30
Amanda Terkel from the Huffington Post kicked things off by introducing Darcy Burner, progressive candidate for Congress. She started by talking about how Democrats need to change their focus.
Democrats are the Lotus of computer software, v. Microsoft. We think it is all about product @darcyburner #nn12 #waronwomenJulie Kaviar
@DarcyBurner asks #nn12 audience: get women to vote. It’ll matter a lot more than the small slice of swing voters.Burner for Congress
She asked all women who’ve had an abortion and were willing to stand to do so. She then asked everyone willing to stand with them to rise.
Powerful moment. @DarcyBurner had women who were comfortable to do so stand if they had an abortion. Had all who stand with them rise. #nn12Demos_Org
.@darcyburner just made me cry with her call for us to stand up with women who have had an abortion. #nn12Sarah Jaffe
It was a moving and motivating speech.
If you’re not inspired by @DarcyBurner’s speech at #NN12, you don’t have a pulse. Wow.Greg Basta
Darcy was followed by Representative Mazie Hirono from Hawaii. She started by speaking about her how her family escaped abuse in Japan and came to Hawaii.
"I’m grateful for the courage my mother had to start a new life for us in Hawaii." – @mazieforhawaii #nn12 #hisenEMILY’s List
She spoke about the Violence Against Women Act and how we need to work to protect women’s interests.
We need our people to be powerful, motivated and connected so we can keep the #waronwomen at bay @mazieforhawaii #nn12Julie Kaviar
Elizabeth Warren spoke next. She started by talking about Republicans.
Republicans want to give the richest and most powerful more money and more power. @elizabethforma at #nn12 lunch keynoteDemocracyForAmerica
She compared financial markets to football.
"Without rules, it’s not football, it’s a mugging." @elizabethforma #nn12colleen crinion
"Progressives understand markets are like football. Every game needs rules & a ref who enforces those rules" @elizabethforma #nn12 #noi12Evan Sutton
She addressed treating corporations as people.
"Corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs.. they live… learn the difference!" -@elizabethforma #nn12Ryan J. Davis
And why she’s running for office.
Let me be clear- I am not backing down… I want something more than winning… I want real change… @elizabethforma #nn12Denise
"I got in this race because real people are getting hammered & they’re counting on me to stand up for them." – @elizabethforma #nn12 #masenEMILY’s List
Finally, the speakers came together for a panel discussion, moderated by Amanda Terkel. They spoke about health care and how we can all do more to defend it.
"We need to get the word out that the health care law is good for women, young people, seniors…" .@mazieforhawaii #NN12PolicyLink
They also spoke about minimum wage.
Minimum wage: @DarcyBurner sez Congress shld raise it, and make it automatically rise with consumer price index. #NN12addiestan
And women in Afghanistan and around the world.
On Afghanistan “We don’t make these changes through war. We make them through investments in people.” Elizabeth Warren @ElizabethForma #NN12Current TV
They also touched on reproductive rights.
@elizabethforma says economic rights and reproductive rights are inextricably linked. you cannot disentangle the two. #nn12 @gomydJon Reznick
And equal pay for equal work.
"When someone says women make less bc they’re women, ask them why they don’t support equal pay for equal work." – @elizabethforma #NN12Fem2pt0
Amanda Terkel asked the panelists why only 3 out of 10 women believe there’s a war on reproductive rights.
Darcy Burner talking about my pet peeve, the way Republicans always argue in bad faith when trying to restrict reproductive rights. #NN12Amanda Marcotte
She also asked about Citizens United and the impact on womens’ voices.
Warren: "If we don’t push back on Citizens United, corporations will run America." #nn12Charlie Spiering
"The answer is, it has an affect on the voices of human beings" @elizabethforma on Citizens United #NN12NPI
They agreed that we don’t have enough women in public office.
"Afghanistan has more women in its Parliament than we have in our Congress." @DarcyBurner #nn12Matt McDermott
Amanda Terkel is a Senior Political Reporter and Politics Managing Editor at The Huffington Post. Previously, Amanda served as Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and the Managing Editor of ThinkProgress.org.
Progressive candidate for Congress in WA-01, working to build an America that works for ALL of the American people. Former executive director of ProgressiveCongress.org and the Progressive Congress Action Fund. Board member of the Netroots Foundation and the Center for International Policy. Former board member of NARAL Pro-Choice America, ActBlue, SNAP-PAC, Council for a Livable World’s PeacePAC, and the Progressive Ideas Network. Principal on the Afghanistan Study Group. Author and organizer of A Responsible Plan to End the War in Afghanistan. Rabblerouser.
Representative Mazie Hirono (D-HI) would be the first Asian-American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate and would be a people’s senator — a leader who comes from humble beginnings and who has overcome difficult obstacles.
Born in Japan, Mazie spent her early years on her grandparents’ rice farm, sent there by her mother to escape a father whose chronic alcoholism and compulsive gambling left the family with few means and even less stability. When nearly eight years old, Mazie, her mother, and her older brother fled Japan for Hawaii in search of a better life.
Mazie served as Hawaii’s lieutenant governor from 1994-2002 and has represented Hawaii’s second district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007.
Mazie’s complete biography can be found at http://www.mazieforhawaii.com.
Elizabeth Warren was elected to the United States Senate from Massachusetts in 2012.
She is widely credited for the original thinking behind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She led the establishment of the agency, building the structure and organization to protect consumers from financial tricks and traps hidden in mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Elizabeth served as Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP. Her efforts to protect taxpayers and hold Wall Street accountable won praise from both sides of the aisle.
Elizabeth was a law professor for more than 30 years, including nearly 20 years at Harvard Law School. She is the author of 10 books, including three national best-sellers: A Fighting Chance, The Two-Income Trap and All Your Worth.
