I will be the first to admit that when I saw the headline in the Globe a few weeks ago that Attorney General Martha Coakley is considering a run for Massachusetts governor next year, I was not immediately jumping with excitement.
And I don't think I was the only woman-who-loves-to-support-Democratic-women-candidates who felt this way. Maybe it's campaign fatigue from this ruthless series of special elections we find ourselves in in Massachusetts. Maybe we're still a little tender from the Scott Brown victory in 2010. Maybe it's because several strong candidates are already in the race.
Sigh. Or maybe it's because I'm too big of a girl and don't want to face another loss.
Then former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced he's running for NYC comptroller. And with all of the coverage of male "comeback" stories (or as Joanna Weiss so aptly called them "the testosterone boys"), something struck and I thought: "Why the hell isn't she running?"
She had no scandal, just a poorly run and ill-timed campaign. She's done an excellent job as AG with an impressive record on DOMA and human trafficking. And she's sat out two US Senate races. Most men would have declared by now for the next race.
So if Martha has the progesterone to go "ovaries out" and run for governor, I say go for it. Let's see her put her best (stylish heeled) foot forward. While she remained coy this weekend at the Democratic State Convention about her intentions to run, she showed some much needed spunk and brought a strong show of support. Much like the Boston mayoral race, I'm both exhausted and excited to see how the 2014 Massachusetts gubernatorial field will shake out. But I do believe that we can benefit competitive primaries and having a woman (or women!) in the field makes the discussion all the more rich.
PS - cheers to EMILY's List for helping to ensure that the Massachusetts field has a strong woman contender in the race. In addition to Martha, they have identified another strong candidate in Juliette Kayyem, a national security expert and Boston Globe columnist, to run for governor if Martha chooses to opt out.
(image source: www.facebook.com/TobyGTweets)
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