There’s a new documentary coming out, made by the daughters of Sens. Lincoln and Boxer, called 14 Women. It’s about the women in the U.S. Senate. Mary Ann Akers says it should have been called 14 Women (and Joe Biden).
Also noteworthy in the movie is Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), the only male senator who is interviewed. Ostensibly, Biden was chosen to talk about his role in recruiting women to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee after the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings. But Biden winds up playing the male feminist, talking throughout the movie about the wonders of women and how well they work with each other and how he hopes to see more of them in the Senate — and, wow, women, they are just so neat!
I wonder if anyone asked Biden why Diane Feinstein is the only woman on the Judiciary Committee. Why didn’t former Minnesota attorney general Amy Klobuchar warrant a seat instead of Benjamin Cardin and Sheldon Whitehouse? I mean, if women are so ‘neat’ and all…just saying.
I thought this was cute:
A group of sixth-grade girls from working-class backgrounds appears throughout the movie to give commentary. One says women make better senators because “women can use both sides of their brain.” And asked how a senator is elected, one girl said the president appoints them. And all the girls, according to co-producer Oreck, were outraged to learn there isn’t 50/50 split between men and women in the Senate.
They might want to talk to Chuck Schumer because, other than Vivian Figures, in Alabama, I don’t think he has definitively lined up a single woman to compete for any of the 22 GOP-held Senate seats up for re-election in 2008.