Monday, May 12, 2008

Dear Candidate for Town Council:

The other day I received a letter in the mail detailing why I should vote for you tomorrow.

For weeks, my husband and I have been buried under piles of mail--all those slick flyers from your campaign team as well as your competitor's.

But this letter was different. First, it was a letter, in an envelope, rather than an 8 1/2 X 11" postcard. Second, it was addressed only to me.

When I opened it up, I saw the reason for that. Your letter was on pink paper. It informed me that it was more than 15 years since a woman had been elected to town council here, and that you are the only current female candidate.

Frankly, I think that if you feel you need to depend on the fact that you are a woman to get elected, then you're selling yourself short and insulting me. I do not vote based on the gender of the candidate. I vote for the candidate who I feel will do the best job for the town I call home.

Your letter spent a little too much time on what Whitney Houston and the Phillies were doing 15 years ago, and too little time on what you plan to do for our town.

I do hope that your team wins tomorrow (after all, your sign's in my front yard). But if you do win, wouldn't you be prouder of that victory if you were sure it was won on your merits as a candidate, rather than on the fact of your gender?

[For the record, I emailed the candidate a copy of this entry.]

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