Editor’s note: Pat Schroeder inspired a generation of Colorado women to serve in politics, breaking glass ceilings and fighting for reproductive freedom, equal rights, and maternity leave. From 1972 to 1996, she represented Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She contributed to The Denver Post with guest commentaries for more than 20 years. Here are some favorite excerpts from her writings and her conversations:
“Getting the Granny Vote”
On concern for future generations, from Sept. 9, 2004 commentary
My generation were the activists in the ’60s who are now in their 60s. We are tackling grandparenthood with the same vigor we tackled other conventional wisdom. Twenty-first-century grandparents are focusing on the future instead of dwelling on the past. Watch out, because there are lots of us — and we vote, big-time.
Yes, we are concerned about our health care, but also about our grandchildren’s health care. We care about our pensions, but hope pensions will exist for our grandchildren. This one-dimensional understanding of older voters like us — the grandparents of the 21st century — yields a myopic view of America.
Will our grandchildren inherit a huge debt or a stable and diverse economy? A planet in balance or an environmental disaster? A democracy that is thriving or one that is dying? A world that is coming apart or a world working together? Grandchildren have no say. Having been blessed to live a long time, we have great respect for the long-term view.
“A woman at the Pentagon”
Regarding military spending and then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Nov. 7, 2007 commentary
The remarkable thing about Hillary Clinton is her resilience on the toughness test. Despite what her worst critics say, the words “soft” and “weak” are never on their tongues. She serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and understands the threat.
Someone like Hillary Clinton could shatter the old stereotypes about Democrats and defense. There is no way Hillary could mess it up more than it is now. And there is a terrific chance she will bring a clear, critical and analytical approach to making America stronger without all the waste, fraud, sweetheart deals and fat.
“Hillary broke barriers, yet”
And more women in politics, from Aug. 26, 2008
When people insinuate that sexism is a thing of the past, I say they need to take off the blinders and take a hard look at what has occurred on the campaign trail this year. Gender is still one of the most restricting forces in our nation today, in the political arena and in our daily lives. Sen. Clinton has come closer than any other woman in history to finally tearing off the “No Girls Allowed” sign on the White House. Yet no action on her part could stop her detractors.
* * *
I contemplated running for president in 1988. What an undertaking. After some very exciting months, I realized that America was not man enough to elect a woman. Imagine the frustration I felt when, after giving a speech on the “Rendezvous with Reality” this nation needed, the first question would be, “Why are you running as a woman?” It was heartbreaking to face the many ways in which my gender eclipsed my message and to realize that running a symbolic campaign was the best I could hope for.
“America’s challenge is to bind together for real solutions”
On the 2022 midterms, Sept. 11, 2022
Stop wringing our hands and roll up our sleeves; this is serious.
I was elected to Congress in the wake of Watergate. That assault on Democracy by President Richard Nixon and his henchmen now looks like a middle school lunchroom fight compared to what we are now living through.
Still, we all tried to talk to each other and get through it. Even with deep divisions and violence, there was an impulse for debate, even when it was heated. The institutions of our democracy were the places where arguments took place. And really, isn’t ‘argument’ what engages minds and causes change?
Differences worked for us, or rather we found a way to make them work for us. Our basic instinct for curiosity about the other led to conflict, but the conflicts were functional, rooted in an impulse to find solutions, to reach for common ground.
Now hate and humiliation seems to rule. Many have asked, “what binds us together?”
We have two ears and one mouth, and yet we talk way more than we listen. No wonder we can’t hear our common humanity.
“Hard questions about soft money: Voters must demand reform”
Regarding campaign reform, from a Feb. 1, 1996, commentary
In Washington, money talks. But that’s nothing new to voters. That’s one of the big reasons they’re disillusioned with the system — because the special big-money interests drown out their voices and undermine democracy.
The soft money issue is important. But it’s anything but soft.
“Pat Schroeder reflects on Hillary Clinton, women and the 2016 election”
From a Q&A with reporter John Frank, from Nov. 6, 2016
On the 2016 presidential race:
I’m feeling like an alien in my own culture. I absolutely cannot figure out what’s going on. It just absolutely blows me away.
* * *
I have a theory about — and I hate to call them this but — lily-livered liberals who are so bloody pure that they can’t vote for anybody unless they are 100 percent pure.
On the changes for women seeking elected office since she served:
I think the double-standard has gotten more subtle. But it’s certainly there. If I hear one more person say, “Well, the problem with Hillary is she’s not likable.” I’ve never heard them say that about a man.
* * *
When I go to talk to young women on campuses, they look at me and say everything is fine now. The young ones don’t have any idea about what this is about.
And then they get into the real world and they don’t know what to do about it. What is this? They blame themselves, or they blame something else. But they won’t call it sexism because they were totally convinced that there is no such thing anymore and I think there is a lot of it.
Pat Schroeder is pictured on May 1, 1984. (Photo by Susan Biddle/The Denver Post)
“We’ve come a long way, baby”
From a commentary by Dottie Lamm (former first lady of Colorado and the state’s 1998 Democratic U.S. Senate candidate) on Dec. 9, 2012
In a National Public Radio interview, U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif.,recalls sitting with Denver’s former congresswoman, Pat Schroeder, at an Armed Services Committee session where the men were all screaming at each other.
“Pat then nudges me and whispers, ‘Let’s give them all estrogen shots!’ ”
On politician Geraldine Ferraro, from an Ellen Goodman column on March 31, 2011
“She made the unsinkable Molly Brown look like a wimp.”
Coining the phrase “Teflon president” in 1983, regarding Ronald Reagan
“He has been perfecting the Teflon-coated presidency: He sees to it that nothing sticks to him.”
Schroeder referring to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives
“Housework”
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