I don't really know how to explain this, but I am going to try.
All my slights, my hurts, all the topsy turvies along my career path - some days I feel like I have not even started on one yet - all of them can be encapsulated in 500 years of world history. Beyond 500 years I draw a blank. When you go back more than 500 years, I come across stories of all sorts of glorious kings in my part of the world, some of whom were supposedly great, but they were still kings, the arrangement still was feudal. But you hang on to the threads regardless. They are dead and gone.
But for women that span has got to be 10,000 years, at least 10,000 years.
At some level I was really torn in 2007 and 2008. I wished I did not have to choose between the idea of the first black president and the first woman president, I wished I did not have to choose between the two super duper candidates. But I did throw in my lot with Barack, and I did do the best I could for him. The one solace was that perhaps this was the future. Women and black men could compete for the top most jobs and there was not much angst among the masses. This will perhaps feel normal down the line as well, I thought. I took solace in that thought.
Here were two out and out outstanding individuals. And they were both running for president. A more powerful political office has never been designed ever. This was a big deal.
I have worked hard to talk in terms of The New Woman for September 14. I have done it because I concluded early on that that was what was going to be the biggest reason for victory. The techies and brownies will pad the victory margins, but it is the women on the East Side who will have to wake up to give Reshma her much deserved victory on September 14.
And victory it shall be. I smell it. It's near. It's about to happen.
And it is not because Maloney fears she might end up giving Reshma media attention she otherwise does not have. Reshma has been commanding more media attention than Maloney on her own. She needs no help from Maloney to get media attention. Reshma is the candidate with star power in this race. It is not Maloney. Reshma has been commanding national attention like she should. Reshma is not bothered she might share media attention with Maloney because she knows debating is the right thing to do.
One reason is Maloney is plain scared. It is like getting scared of a scary final exam. Reshma is super duper smart. She is sharp. She is prepared. And so Maloney is scared. I notice Reshma's smarts too. But I am not scared. I get impressed. I am like wow. And I am male.
A big reason Maloney is refusing to show up for the debates is because she is refusing to do the right thing by the cause of women. She needs to plan a graceful exit away from the stage to make way for Reshma. That would be the right thing to do. (Carolyn Maloney: The Alan Keyes Of District 14)
Show up for the debates, give a good concession speech the evening of September 14, endorse Reshma for the November election, wish the party all the best, and gracefully exit and enjoy your retirement. And watch Reshma do wonderful things for women. (September 14 Will Birth The New Woman)
History will remember but one thing about Maloney, and that is that she was in the seat that Reshma ended up taking. She should play nice therefore.
If Carolyn Maloney cares about the progressive cause, if she cares about furthering the cause of women, she should plan for a graceful exit, and that involves showing up for the weekly debates.
This has gone too far. It will take Maloney less time to actually show up for a debate than to keep dancing around the question if she will debate.
Is she saying she is too good for democracy? Is she saying she is too good for the good people of District 14? Is she saying she is too good for the people of New York City? What exactly is she saying?
The New York Observer: Reshma To Maloney: You've Been Talking To Whom, Exactly?!?: an interview Maloney did with WNBC's Melissa Russo yesterday in which the long-time Upper East Side Congresswoman said that, "my staff is talking to her campaign staff" about setting up a debate...... Saujani has been especially active as the campaign enters its final weeks, knocking Maloney for "silence" on the Ground Zero Mosque
NBC New York: Maloney Won't Commit to Debate with Democratic Challenger: Maloney danced around the direct question "do you intend to debate?" Maloney said her campaign staff was talking to Saujani's campaign staff and "the facts will come out and we're working forward." .... After repeated follow up questions about whether she'll debate, Maloney would only say "we're considering it. Stay tuned." .... Saujani's campaign disputes Maloney's claim that her staff is engaging in any debate related discussions. .... Saujani says Maloney is "running scared." .... Saujani's campaign fired back and said Maloney had been ducking them entirely. .... "Last night, when WNBC asked Carolyn Maloney whether she would be debating Reshma, the Congresswoman said that 'my campaign staff is talking to her campaign staff.' We must have missed those calls and emails -- because that’s news to us," said Saujani's manager Keving Lawlor. ""For more than three months, Maloney has consistently ignored requests to debate from both our campaign and third-party groups...On May 10th, the Maloney campaign signed for a letter inviting her to a series of debates with Reshma. Yet there has been no effort from her staff to even contact our campaign to discuss the issue."
WNYC: South Asian LGBT Community Marches In India Day Parade: Additional pressure on the parade organizers came from Reshma Saujani, a young Indian-American congressional candidate who's waged a high-level campaign against Rep. Carolyn Maloney. According to Jain, SALGA hasn't had that sort of political support before.
Capital Tonight: Saujani Decries Dem ‘Silence’ On Mosque: Most of the state’s 29 House members have so far shied away from taking a definitive position on the mosque .... Saujani goes on to note that she has repeatedly tried to get Maloney to debate her, including on Aug. 24 at Baruch College, but has so far failed to get the incumbent congresswoman to commit to going toe-to-toe. .... “It’s time for Carolyn Maloney to tell New Yorkers what she thinks about the issues that affect their lives. She has been silent on the construction of the Cordoba House, silent on Charlie Rangel’s ethics investigation, silent on passing the DREAM Act, and silent on new ideas to get New Yorkers back to work.”
Politi Fi: Saujani Slams Maloney for Declining Debate Invite
Image via WikipediaIn 2004 the Republicans got scared of a new guy called Barack Obama. He looked too good. So they decided they were going to end his journey before it began. They threw Alan Keyes at him. Alan Keyes had run for president a few different times. It was quite another matter that he did not seem to have had a taste for field organizations. The dude would simply show up for the debates all dressed up and ready to go. Barack Obama was black. So was Alan Keyes. Barack Obama had gone to Harvard. So had Alan Keyes. But Barack Obama had never run for president. He looked green to the Republicans.
Both Reshma Saujani and Carolyn Maloney are women. But Maloney did not go to the University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Harvard or Yale. But then nobody went to all three of those fancy schools, not Barack Obama, not Bill Clinton. I am not going to use that against Maloney too much. Her mansion though is another matter.
Alan Keyes, on the other hand, loved debates. Because that is the only thing he did. He otherwise made no campaign appearances. He had no organization. (Carolyn Maloney: Chicken)
2010 is Reshma's year like 2004 was Obama's year. And Carolyn Maloney is the Alan Keyes this time around. She is a nuisance that has to be suffered for a few more weeks. (Carolyn Maloney: The Al Sharpton Of Gender Relations)
