The
Page 18
New Prices
Effective
May 1, 2010
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Portland Observer Black
History Month
February 25, 2015
O PINION
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
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Minimum Service CHG.
$45.00
A small distance/travel charge
may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
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(Includes: 1 small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services) : $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) :
$40.00 Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
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Sectional: $109 - $139
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Throw Pillows (With
Other Services): $5.00
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Running for President and Against the Mainstream
Women at the
fringes no
longer
BY M ARTHA B URK
It’s that time of
year and Ameri-
cans are honoring
some of our favor-
ite presidents.
How about honoring our female
presidents this time around?
Oh, I forgot. There aren’t any.
Frankly, I find America’s two-
centuries-and-counting streak of all-
male presidents astounding. You’d
think it was against the law to elect
a woman. (It probably would have
been if the founding fathers had
even thought it could happen — it’s
not like they let them vote or any-
thing.)
And it’s not that women haven’t
tried.
Most people don’t know about
the first woman to run for our high-
est office. Victoria Woodhull gave it
a shot, way back in 1872 — nearly 50
years before women even got the
vote.
Undaunted by the fact that she
was both disenfranchised and too
young to legally become president,
Woodhull traveled the country cam-
paigning for two years before the
election. Her speeches not only
advocated women’s suffrage, but
also birth control, “free love,” and
other positions that were a cen-
tury ahead of her time.
Alas, Woodhull and her sister
spent Election Day in 1872 in jail.
Their crime? Publishing the
facts about an adulterous affair
between the very popular Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher and a leader of
the women’s movement, Elizabeth
Tilton.
It was true yet politically incor-
rect. So the Woodhull sisters were
indicted for libel and obscenity.
Since Woodhull’s mold-break-
ing effort, more than a dozen other
women have run for president.
The club is much more diverse
than the guys who’ve been on the
ballot.
In 1972, Patsy Mink was the
first Japanese American to run
(and the first woman of color to
serve in Congress). Shirley
Chisholm was the first of three
prominent African American
women to run. The other two were
Lenora Fulani in 1988 and Sen.
Carol Moseley Braun in 2004.
And long before Mitt Romney
came on the scene, fifth-generation
Mormon Sonia Johnson was nomi-
nated by two minor parties in 1984.
She became the first third-party can-
didate to qualify for primary match-
ing funds.
A female candidate finally broke
into the mainstream in 2008, when
Hillary Clinton barely missed be-
coming the Democratic Party’s stan-
dard-bearer.
Now the former senator, secre-
tary of state, and first lady is the
presumed frontrunner.
Is the country finally ready for
a female in the White House? No-
body knows. But if Clinton does
run, she’ll be roughed up far more
than the boy she’s up against, no
matter which one of them it is.
How do I know? Because it’s
already started, and she hasn’t even
declared.
Naysayers claim Clinton is too
old. Actually, she’s younger than
Reagan was when he launched his
first winning presidential bid.
Some critics wonder, could she
stand to run and miss time with her
grandchildren? Oh please.
Conservatives attack Clinton for
being too liberal since she favors
keeping abortion and birth control
legal and accessible.
Progressives complain that she’s
too conservative. Maybe they
should try saying this 10 times:
“President Ted Cruz.”
Others complain that she’s a re-
run. Jeb Bush, anyone?
Rush Limbaugh lovers hold
Clinton responsible for four U.S.
deaths in the Benghazi attack.
Why aren’t they more concerned
about George W. Bush’s record?
Some 2,356 Americans died in Af-
ghanistan and 4,489 perished in
Iraq.
No doubt Clinton will face more
feeble charges, but you get the idea.
The country has come a long way
since the 1870s. Unlike when
Woodhull first ran, folks don’t find
having a woman in charge of the
nation an alien concept.
One thing’s for certain: If Hillary
Clinton makes a run for it, she’ll win.
Even if she doesn’t move back into
the White House as president, she’ll
succeed. Female candidates won’t
be relegated to the fringe anymore
after her campaign.
It’s the new normal. Get used to
it if you’re not ready.
Who knows? 2016 could be a
lucky number for the majority of
voters — women.
Martha Burk is the director of
the Corporate Accountability
Project for the National Council of
Women’s Organizations.