Troxclair charts sane, rational, path forward for Women in Politics (especially Conservatives)

"And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’"
Matthew 19:4

We attended TPPF's book talk this afternoon for Ellen Troxclair's new book: "Step Up!: How To Advocate Like A Woman."  Troxclair's book is a mix of her personal story and a call to action for younger, conservative, women.  She adds a desperately needed perspective to an important discussion that is far too frequently discussed far too poorly.

Troxclair opens by discussing how few women have served in elected office over the years.  Even more staggering is how much fewer that number is for conservative women.  This has the practical effect of surrendering the argument before it's even made.

Troxclair tells her own story about being "a poor capitol staffer who was fed up" watching council misgovern Austin.  She decided to run when she realized the other candidates in the race weren't up to the task.  It was going to be her or nobody.

Thankfully, she ran.

One fascinating point Troxclair brought up was the "confidence gap" between women and men.  Whereas Men will give something a shot if they think they've got a 60 to 70% shot of success, women will tend to hesitate unless they're 100% confident.  This has the effect of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy where, because women are more risk-averse than men, fewer of them tend to run, which repeats they cycle.  Rinse, lather, repeat.

If there's one shortcoming in the presentation, it's the degree to which Troxclair might not realize the degree to which she's a political unicorn.  Regardless of gender, the one thing we desperately need are elected officials who a) can speak in more than just cliches and b) who will follow through on their campaign promises once in office.  We've been watching politics for a long time, and Ellen Troxclair is pretty unique on those grounds.

Bottom Line:  This is an important discussion.  Unfortunately, it far too frequently devolves into buzzwords, cliches, and stereotypes.  This doesn't do that.  Kudos to Ellen Troxclair for charting a course towards a productive solution.