the children were like we don't know her, we have no idea who she is. she was that kind of flamboyant -- she grabbed life by the jugular and shook it and i never met a stranger and i am no question in my mind sitting here because of her. >> stephanie that story speaks to the way women make decisions about running. if they don't have a role model, how difficult is it for you to convince a woman that she should run for office? >> i don't think there's a woman in this country who doesn't have a role model now. may not be -- they're either in their life directly or they're serving in the united states senate. i remember talking to a woman who was thinking about running for congress. this will probably sound familiar. we should ask stacy her story of deciding. we were trying to recruit a woman to run for the house in

wisconsin. and she was so close to running, so close to running. we're like, you can do it, you can do it. she called me and she said, i don't know what to do with my kids. well, i didn't exactly know what to do with her kids. because i haven't had the pleasure of having children myself. i said, you know, i know somebody who does. i put her on the phone can debbie wassermann schultz, serving in the house, had three, ran with an infant, she gets it. the two of them talked and i got a call back about 30 minutes later and our candidate was in the race. this is the connection that we've made across the country and stacy, i'm sure you have a similar story of going through that process and the family support and the kids looking at you -- got to tell the story about the kid looking at you. >> i would tell most of the folks in the room probably know when i ran for the iowa senate for the first time. we -- i was pregnant.

and so i -- i -- our baby was born two weeks after i was elected. it was crazy. everybody knows. that was our fifth child. but just being newly elected and running, pregnant, it's a -- -- it's an interesting experience. but you can do it because i'm -- i was in -- going to talk a little bit about what clare was saying. when we decide to run for office and we have children and we talked about showing young women that they can do it, i think it's almost as important in showing young men that we can do it. as a mom of five boys, you change the way they think. and how they perceive you. and that makes the difference. >> you mentioned the polling in a your group did in april here

in iowa of democratic -- the like lip democratic caucusgoers. 98% said they were ready for a woman to be president. but when asked if there's a gender difference in leadership, 78% said yes. i mean, so it's a difference there. explain that and is that a detriment or an asset for a female? >> i think it's all good. to assume that women and men are the same -- we all know that women and men are not exactly the same, right? there are some differences there. that is why it's so important to have so many diversities of voices in all of this. in this polling which i thought was incredible was that voters not just here in iowa but in some of the other battleground states, particularly in iowa they had a couple of issues really good for women, they saw that women leaders bring the right priorities and the right judgment to the job and they're willing to put family and

country before partisan politics and will help end partisan bickering. i don't know if anyone in this room isn't ready for the end of partisan bickering. >> absolutely. i think part of it is what we've already been seeing with the women who have -- who have come into government, whether it's the state legislature or in congress, they really do find ways to get things done. it is not always easy, i know, for anybody serving in the legislature. but they do really work hard together. i think because of those examples, you can see what a woman president would be like in trying to find solutions to work with all of -- work with everybody to bring them in. not saying that the men don't do that. they do. we do it all the time. we have to do it with the families all the time. with all of the boys at home, i don't know how she gets everything done, she does.

trust me, a day in the office of a senator or the president of the united states, it's probably well, as complicated as the mother of six. a lotf oh moving pieces. that is what it's about. >> jessica, christie vilsak made the theme of her campaign she was not a partisan fighter. >> right. >> was that effective? >> obviously we weren't successful in elected christie vilsak. it was effective in the way that people realized they had a real choice with that campaign. specifically we're running against smuomebody who is a tea partier. going to be running for president. and very extreme. and i think people were just -- what we learned when we were -- christie's message in general and even polling and information you got, people were sick of the bickering.

you don't get a 9% approval rating when people are not sick of you and people want to get things done. and so i -- even though it wasn't successful, it sent a message that you can run a campaign on, you know, positive issues and positive policy initiatives. and talk about how you don't have to go back and forth against each other in washington, you can build on relationships and get things done in your district. i think it's a theme other people who are running can use. because the people who were drawn to her campaign were drawn to that theme. >> senator mccaskill, with all of the women in the u.s. senate and the idea that women are collaborators, how is that working out? >> well, i do think that there's a choice between combat and compromise. and i think that women naturally gravitate towards compromise as

opposed to combat. i do -- it's a big generalization and there are always exceptions to every rule. but i wash my colleagues, i particularly watch how we work with our republican colleagues. and when we are trying to figure out that something is doable, i go to susan collins and say, hey, what did you think. i go to lisa. i work with kelly ai. and there's this sense of -- we can talk about this and not have too much testosterone in the conversation about who's winning and who's losing. and that's one of the things about our politics that i think we forget. of course it's going to be very hard because we have a divided government. our founding fathers allowed this to happen. a america sits a house of representatives, they have one mandate. america sits a much different senate that has a different mandate. then you have a polarizing president there, not his fault,

not his fault. he's tried. and that's the kind of stew that does not result in everyone holding hands and singing kumbaya. so women are very important in this. when it came to the violence against women act, things stuck. we were aguest at this incredibly important legislation being kicked to the curve by the house of representatives. who did we turn to to get speaker boehner to put it on a floor for a vote even though the majority of the caucus had not embraced it? the republican women in the house. we put pressure on them and said, hey, step up. put pressure on your leadership, or do you want to wear the mantle for the rest of your life that it was your party that stopped this life-saving legislation for millions of women all across the country. it worked. and the funding for planned

parenthood where we united across the aisle, women, that understood that you do not reduce abortions by reducing the ability to give birth control. that's not how you do it. [ applause ] [ applause ] >> i'm from the mid welles. i think i can say with authority. in iowa and missouri, we'd say that's just dumb. the women got that. we stood shoulder to shoulder. i think even though it looks like a mess and many days it is a mess, there are some rays of hope and we have had more of our colleagues that feel marginalized by the extreme elements in their parties that are willing to come forward and work with us. we saw it on immigration, we saw it on the farm bill. republicans in the senate willing to work with us. now, if it would only catch fire in the house we would make more progress. >> stephanie, in 2007 after

hillary clinton said she was in it to win it, she often said she is not running because she's a woman, she's a woman because she thought she was the most qualified for the job. that seems to dampen the excitement of people who go thinking i'm seeing a candidate who may be the first female president. how do candidates negotiate that in trying to maintain the excitement about a female candidacy while at the same time just not making it about the fact that they're a female candidate. >> for any woman candidate to be successful, we've proven that over 28 years of emily's list is about who the best candidate is. it's not about gender when you go to the voting booth. it's not. you have to make your case to the candidate, whether you're a woman or man, democrat or republican, you have to make the case. so she is right. we want to el elect the best person to be president.

there's no one in here who doesn't want to elect the best person to be president. what i want to say to everybody is, open our minds a little bit. there's a whole list of women that could be on that list and should be on that debate. that's the importance. that's a little bit of the difference of this conversation. i think that's really important. i think if hillary clinton is absolutely prepared particularly -- she was then and after four years of being secretary of state -- definitely got it now. but we also have these incredible women on the bench who happen to be women but can really be great presidents. that is the important piece of this. i think as we look forward, that's something we have to keep in mind here. >> another thing she encountered in 2007 was that a lot of the obama supporters and in case people don't know, you were an obama supporter, didn't want to relitigate the clinton years.

and that caused them to support barack obama instead of hillary clinton. how did she address the fact that she has a record to defend and she has to defend her husband's record as well? >> i really think that her job as secretary of state has solidified her standing as a candidate that happened to be married to a guy that used to be president. but not that his presidency would in any way define her presidency. i think it's important to remember that we have two candidates for president in 2008 that were amazing. historic candidates that made all of us who are democrats so proud of our party and so proud of our country because the two amazing candidates were running. i said to my friends who wither disappointed in me when i supported barack obama, not like i'm going for a good ole boy.

this is an extraordinarily difficult decision. and it was a difficult one to me. and in many ways, it's a difficult one for our party. the good news is now we get to make history twice. we get to make history in 2008 by electing an amazing leader, the president of the united states. and we get to turn around and do it in just a few years. it's our hope, anyway, that she decides to run. >> what a great party to be part of to have that sort of opportunity where you're so proud of the candidates who are running for white house. we would be remiss to not mention the cast of characters in the republican primary in the last go around and the ones we're trying to see already that some of which are here in iowa as we speak or are on their way, rick santorum, who want to get

rid of all contraception, and ted cruz who wants to shut down the government who will just destroy women and families and all americans from the very important things they need like social security and medicare. these are the cast of characters on the other side. the senator mentioned the difference in women with the compromise versus combat. i'll tell you, as i watch the women in the senate work together across the aisle, they are arming up to face combat when they do that. these women are tough as nails and can handle any situation put in front of them. i don't have any doubts about it. i really -- we really have a good bench of democrats who are ready to run for the presidency. >> i think to say one thing on that. a lot of people talk about '07, '08. i came from iowa and understand the caucuses as everyone does. iowa state elections are a snapshot in time. and we can go back to '07 and

'08 and relitigate what happened there, the support. it's a new playing field, it's a new ball game. it's apples and oranges when you talk about '07-'08 and you talk about what's going to happen in '12. the iowa electorate has changed, i believe. and the people who interested in the caucuses have changed. enthusiasm, this room wouldn't be standing room only for electing a woman or there wouldn't be a camera full in the back. people are interested in this. as well as the other women who are potentially going to run. but you know we can talk over and over again about what happened then. i can give you my opinion -- what i saw and how there are problems and good things and bad things, but the reality is that people have learned lessons and it's really a new day. >> you managed a candidate whose husband had statewide success. in voter interaction, were they interested in her and him or were they interested in her? >> that's a great point.

because in the beginning, every news article talks about how christi vilsak was the wife of tom vilsak. it's a great thing. he was a beloved person in the state of iowa. she was very much in love with her husband and that was something to embrace. in the end, she became her own candidate. a lot of people who run for congress or governor who are somebody's something. but in reality, she became her own person. and, you know, was it frustrating to her to see every article saying i'm tom vilsak's wife. maybe sometimes. she felt like what she had done and accomplished was she was able to run a campaign, a modern campaign and take on folks and raise $3.4 million in the fourth congressional district and show the rest of the people, some of them are here that even though

she didn't win, you can run a great campaign and afterwards do incredible things because you did that. i want to acknowledge some of the people here behind successful men, lieutenant governor sally peterson is here. and ruth harkin who was an amazing experience for me to get to know her and the senator would not be where he is today, i don't think i have the authority to say that if it weren't for an amazing woman who was the first woman in their family to get elected. so that's also important. [ applause ] >> ruth has a special place among senators and it's not unusual to call tom harkin ruth harkin. as you may have noticed, there is a microphone standing in the middle of the aisle if you'd like to queue up if you have a

question. i'll ask one final question of the panel so please come forward if you have a question. there there come a day soon when either the democrats or the republicans nominate a woman as president and a woman as vice president? >> absolutely? >> sure. >> sure. >> i don't know. you know, you just don't know. we -- it should be like why wouldn't it happen? why not? we have the folks to do it. i've -- hillary clinton, elizabeth warren has a nice ring to it. i don't know if either one wants to do that. >> hillary-claire. >> oh, the truth is, yes, it is going to happen. and i think we've come to a place that i am yet to see a woman on the ticket.

every election we're in now. i really do. i think we've come to a place where there's such a pipeline of women who are ready to go. the ones i've mentioned and there's a whole other group that are coming up, pamela harris, the attorney general of california. may not have heard of her. kathleen cain, attorney general of pennsylvania, you will hear of them. particularly here in iowa. you will hear of these women, maybe ten years, maybe 15, maybe 20. there's a group that are coming up because we've worked so hard over 30 years, particularly with emily's list on the democratic side, to ensure that women run and have had success that we now have a great, great pipeline. and the one thing i'll also add for everybody who's here, we need to continue that pipeline. this is not about one woman and one presidential race. this is about changing our society and our culture. and i think we can do it. >> i don't think anybody has queued up yet.

we can ask more quells. let's talk about the senator to the north, the female senator, who is coming to our state soon for a political event. jessica? what can you tell us about her? >> well, clearly she's qualified to do anything she wanted to do. she's got a lot of benefit being in a good proximity to our state. if she wants to run for president, she would be an amazing candidate. >> what can you tell her about her race in minnesota that could be -- >> look, no doubt about it -- you don't know amy is one of the most -- she's one of the -- >> she is actually the most popular senator in the country right now. >> she is. 69%, 70% approval rating. >> she does. >> i worked at the beginning of her race. it was tough in the beginning. i think she won by 20 points. she did the same thing in the last election.

she solidified her standing across the country and people deeply respect her conviction. i think if she's willing to run, she'll be formidable. >> i think we have it here in more ways than one. >> that's right. >> good morning. i want to thank you all for coming out. you say we need more women to be leaders in our nation in the private sector and public sector. the one question i have, what is emily's list's plan to bring more women of color to the pipeline. >> absolutely. thank you for asking that question. emily's list has been involved in elected a all of the current women of color in the house right now. and the senate, those numbers aren't good. we have to work on that. we need more women in the senate, period. it's a huge priority. when when he talk about the presidential campaigns, we talk about the next generation,

pamela harris is a woman of color. the attorney general of nevada who i'd put on that list, a woman of color. great women who are coming up the pipelines that you're going to get to know in the years to come. so we're very, very engaged and doing a lot of training. we go in as an organization, we bring women in together. last cycle we trained over 1300 women around the country. a very, very diverse group of women from all different races and ages and geography to run for state and local office and we're going to continue to do that. we have to keep the pipeline going. >> i think one of the things that we've got to stay focused on, all of us in a leadership capacity is our state legislatures. there are some mischief being done in our state legislatures on women and voting. on a variety of topics that are

not to the majority of america but extreme wing of the republican party has really taken root and done very well in state legislatures around the country. and so that is a place where we really all need to not just emily's list, but all of us need to focus on who is running for the state legislature and who is -- can we get to run for the legislature? we have to do all hands on deck. there are many women of color who have great leadership capacity but have not had the mentoring or encouragement. that's something we all need to take on the responsibility of doing. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> hello. i helped found an organization -- an organization called democrat eighty vis

women's network in iowa. that is exactly what we're doing, recruiting women for office. and on our board, we have some women of color. we recently had training sessions in sioux city, lee county. we have one coming up in dubuque. we're out looking for women. a woman got up and announced her candidacy for school board, a latina. >> i love it. i love it. >> joanne does bring up a very important organization also known as dawn's list. if you shorten that all up. and emily's list is working closely in helping the organization. a number of places around the country that have similar organizations and we're going to come in to iowa to help do what we call a political opportunity

program tribing here to bring women together. we're looking forward to doing a lot of work with you in the months and years to come, so thank you. >> i know this might be semantics, but how do we make women's issues, men's issues? democrat, platform issue? independent? what -- it seems to be that we're so locked into partisan arguments that -- >> well, i wouldn't be here if it weren't for independent voters in missouri. it's about a third, a third, and a third. there's 30% of missouri that wouldn't vote for me no matter what. there's a third that would vote for me no matter what. and so there's this middle. and most of those folks in the middle are perfectly willing to vote for a republican or a democrat. they like compromise.

they like moderation. so i do think that one of the things that we need to do is make sure we're communicating always with independent voters across this country. if we always put on our hats of being a political party first, we're going to lose those independent voters. we have a wonderful opportunity in this country right now. because the shining objects in the republican party do not translate well to independent voters. they translate well in the base of the republican party. and you all in iowa know this very, very well. i mean, your caucuses are famous for picking the republicans that are not anywhere near the middle. so and really, that is an opportunity for us. if we continue to talk about the issue, but most americans care about. can i afford to send my kids to college? am i going to have a retirement? is there health care? is the bridge down the road

safe? can i drive over it? at the end of the -- as ar dean says, issues -- no macaroni and cheese issues is what she wants to talk about. and these are the macaroni and cheese issues that we are focused on in as long as we keep talking about them, we're going to get more of the independent voters than rand paul and all of those hot agent wannabes. >> i'm one of the team leaders in beaverdale. and we engage in this -- one of the problems that i found is a lot of women say, oh, i don't want to get involved in even voting. what do -- what can we do to

energize the women so that they will not only run, but they will get out and vote and support female candidates or whatever organization. but so they don't shy pay way from their opportunity or responsibility as american citizens. >> this is an incredibly important question in 2014 with no presidential campaign. we see a dropoff of the women voters in the nonpresidential election cycles. one of the things we've seen in our research and work at emily's list. we do the candidate work but we do a lot of work in the women voter research and then getting women to vote and persuading them. part of what we have seen is it takes a long conversation. it's not this one quick ad and you're going to get a woman

engaged. it really entails a process of information. a lot of women feel they're not getting the information they need to make a decision. now, as campaign people, we're like, oh, my gosh, we sent them a billion pieces of mail and tv ads. but ultimately the most important conversation with women are one-on-one conversations with women. that's where this network we're trying to build and will be building and already have 60,000 folks joined the madam president campaign is we want to build that network out so women talk to women about the importance of getting engaged in politics. at any level. and the most critical level is voting. that is -- we have to have women voting. and we have to have a conversation about why it's so important. the other piece of it that we found is we have to walk through the impact of the vote. which means what's the impact of the people that you elect. if you check out the emily's

list.org website, you can see the study on the impact that particularly democratic women have made over 20 years in congress. it's astounding what they have done and what they have accomplished. and that conversation is the one we need to have. not an easy process. it's all about one-on-one conversations. that's so great about the caucus system. you have to have those conversations. we need to figure out how to have the conversations in states where there aren't caucus systems and we need to get women engaged, particularly younger women. no easy way to do it, conversation. >> i don't believe in happy positive campaigns. >> oh, don't talk to me. >> campaigns are successful with the opposition probably in many cases like steve king deserves to be -- and i don't think it's effective to just be positive about having things she was doing in the district.

i think that was a mistake? >> we took it every day. you know, you were there. i believe -- you have to have more clarity in campaigns than i see. and my husband is a great armchair football player -- quarterback. never gets off his duff. i could use another word here. but the point is you have to run on issues clearly. and there have to be a few of them and you have to hammer them over and over and over again. one of them that i think you know obviously in iowa but elsewhere is social security and medicare. i'm sorry, but these are basics and this is why, you know, what a lot of people, not talking about happy women in the middle class. but a lot of people need this and you have the threaten -- it's been threatened a lot since

fdr. but i don't see enough clarity in campaigns. i know there are social issues on which women run. we've been talking about that for a long time. but there are basic issues they need to confront. i say it in a way, everybody is running on the middle class. we have a large population has become poor. and these people have become poor through no fault of their own. this happy middle class sense and even a sense of emily's list of happen happy successful women is not -- in some ways, it becomes a problem. >> aren't you a ray of sunshine. again -- >> i get what you're saying. i get what you're saying is we have to have cals. we can't just say, we are going to all get along. we have to show the contract.

and -- the contrast. >> african-american women elected to congress are very fiercely tough people who in their districts have represented the basic gut level issues and everybody understands that. i'm not sure a lot of women have the basics sorted out enough to communicate it. >> i don't agree. but i do think most of the women i run with -- >> you certainly have the basics understood. and we fight every day. >> what about the campaign itself. >> i understand. i agree there are some campaigns and women need to be absolutely fearless about, a, being ambitious, and, b, being strategic. this is not sitting down for tea and crumb pets. this is a tough business. you need to be laser focused on

a strategy that will win and drawing a contrast that not only makes you be the one people want to vote for, but making your opponent the one nobody wants. both sides are important. look at my campaign in 2012 you will see a campaign where there was a lot of strategicic decisions made that were very risky, they paid off. we got the right candidate out of the primary, and then he unfurled himself to the world in a way that allowed us to draw a very stark contrast. and if somebody would have said before that race began that i would be the number one vote getter in missouri, i mean, a fortune could have been made betting on that. because nobody thought i had that meat on a hook. i was done. we were able to turn it around, we were fearless, strategic, and

not afraid of taking risks. that's one of the things that i hope more women embrace. i think it is something that too many women, like you say, have this idea that if i can just be positive and get my ideas out there, everything -- unicorns are going to sproud and rainbows are going to be everywhere. it's not that simple. >> let me make it clear -- with emily's list, and those of you who know us, 28 years of history, 101 women to the house, 19 in the senate. we don't do this because we tiptoe through the tulips. we do this because we win races. at the end of the day, it's about a contrast. and what happened in 2012 was a clear contrast where women embraced -- women -- folks who were running and women voters and men voters when finally the question earlier the women's agenda and the men's agenda.

they're all the same. we have a republican party right now that wants to turn the clock back on our rights and opportunities so far back, we're talking 1950s, 1940s. i don't know how far back they want to take us. they want to take us back. we want to talk about equal pay. let's talk about minimum wage. they want to dismantle social security and medicare. they want to if i go euroout how to make government not work. i tell you what, women and families will be left behind so fast it will make our head spin. the contrast is clear -- we don't intend to just talk about madam president. we intend to make it happen in 2016. >> there's a woman behind you. >> thank you. >> hello, there. i want to thank you all for putting on this event as well. senator mccaskill, i was in my living room cheering you on watching you -- so.

>> i had tears in my eyes too. >> i have two comments and two questions. one leads to the other. i would like for you to speak more on what emily's list is doing in terms of mentorship. i ran in the last election psych until 2012. i'm silting here next to three women in this room who are wonderful friends and mentors and guides and teachers to me. i wouldn't be where i am without them. what are you doing with women that are thinking of hooking up with good mentors because it is so key. my second question is how -- stacy, you can speak to this, how can we convince candidates like me who experience the devastation of a loss in an election to run again. because it's a horrible feeling. >> got do it. >> she ran in my election class. she knows what i went through. how do i tell women, you did it

once, you lost, you have to do it again? >> i don't know very many who haven't lost a race. >> that's right. in fact, i can't think of any. and that -- >> yeah. >> or when i lost my race for governor in 2004, i learned so much more that i had in all of the victories i had for that. it made me a stronger candidate. you can do this. anybody who loses, learn from it, pick up, try again. we would not have women in important places around this country if everyone quit after one loss. i can't think of any presidents that haven't lost races. everybody's lost races. >> we're talking about hillary right now. i've counseled people, sometimes you have to run twice. >> yeah. >> in order to win.

it's hard. you have to get your name out there. information becomes respectful candidates. it's devastating and difficult, it's not personal. if you didn't get back in there and remember it's not personal, go run again. people voted for you. >> that's exactly right. >> i might be the perfect example for you. we just met a couple of weeks ago at a picnic. but i was -- it was one of the biggest losses for us in the snat senate when i lost my race, a very visible race that we never expected to lose. >> the most expensive race that year. >> i believe so. so -- and here i am. i came back and i'm running. >> the question, though, is how did that factor into your decision making? how did you put your name forward again having lost. >> i believe i could make a

difference. i believe it was a bad year for democrats all across it. and i think we have a lot of value still to give. i believe in it. the people of iowa believe in it. that's why they asked me to run. that's why i'm here. i think the people of iowa asked you to run again too. >> the other question -- >> the mentoring -- i'm watching the mentoring happen right in front of me. that is exactly what the goal of emily's list is. we don't send people in dc, we build a sister hood, a network, what was it like? what do i need to do differently. to encourage each other. i ask the men to do the same with the women in your life to encourage them to run for office. we're still a far away from the percentage that we want. we need women and men to encourage. the united states, if you walk away with a number, think about

this. united states is 7th -- 77th in the world in the percentage of women in elected office. 77. that's unacceptable. that's unacceptable. so we need folks to keep going. campaigns are not easy. no one is saying that it's easy. but they are sure worth it. they are sure worth it. so thank you for what you're doing. >> one of the main problems that women face while running is the criticism of their appearance -- you know, we have to make sure our hair is right and our clothes look just so. how can we help to change that conversation and remind men it's about what's in here and here and not on the outside? >> we were just talking about that outside. >> if i could wave a magic wand, we would do it. but one of the things you have to learn to do when you run for office is be realistic and talk about strategic -- you can't be strategic if you're not

realistic. so first impressions matter. they matter in a job interview. a look at the campaign is one long job interview. every day you're interviewing for a job. every day you have to prepare as if you're interviewing for a job. i will confess that i was shopping for spanx in a store and a woman walked up to me and she said are you? and i said, lord, yes, i am. and she said -- not taking pictures at the underwear store. i was unprepared for my job interview. i had my spanx on. looked terrible. it's something that you have to see that way. we all talk about his hairline, husbands, the three h's that women have to deal with. and also weight. i've had some terribly cruel things said to me about being

fat. too fat to be this or too fat to be that. but these are realities. and i would love for you to stand there and say, you know what, we're going to fix that. but i don't see any quick fix aned stead i think you have to view it like a job interview. >> i totally agree. but there are small things that we can do because i find myself looking at other people saying things. we can't do that anymore. if other people are saying it, you have to shut it down. because people are going to say things about people's appearance and we're going be negative and we find ourselves getting caught up in this. this is the small changes we can make in a women's campaign fund and people who call it out on a national level and the realization that people are saying that is wrong. we aren't going to put up with that anymore. i -- i don't know any other way to do it other than when we start finding ourselves doing the same thing or when we hear other people talking and that

kind of language we just say, it's not acceptable. >> i had hoped at some juncture, the culture would shift. i have some hope that the millennials come up and everything that you've ever taken is out there. i can't wait for those campaigns. i'm a gen-x. i'm in the middle of it. i have pictures on my facebook page. the truth is, i think it might help. we might be moving into a new phase on -- that isn't right. and women, boy, they get so much harder than men. they do. and i would hope we would just end the appearance piece. but i have worked for three -- worked for a number of men, three big major candidates, one i'd get e-mails about how bad his suits were. one i would get imails about his weight and the other about his

hair. i sadly belief that actually what's happening is we're going the lowest common denominator. we're not going to lift the conversation up, we're going bring men down on this one. that is unfortunate for the culture. we have to get out of the appearance piece. it's got to happen out of the pop culture end first and we need your help, actually, on that. all of us are going to have to do that. >> good question. >> really good question. >> we have time for one more question if anybody would like to wrap it up? >> big final question. i know someone has one out there. >> can -- >> i knew it. >> in iowa, pro choice is under attack. it's being done through nitpicking at how medicine rules the iowa board medical examiner.

and rules that will only impact planned parenthood. i'm going to ask you, how do we protect rights under row v. wade and how do we maintain that entryingty? >> we've got to win elections. we have to win elections. who the policy makers are and who's in power are making those decisions. and we are living in the aftermath of the 2010 elections in states all over the country. and this is insidious. they -- the tea party right wing conservative republican arm which is sort of invading the rest of the republican party, quite frankly, has decided that this is their moment and they are going to chip away at reproductive health care. and women's health care in general. with ear talking about planned parenthood clinics, cancer screening and birth control.

this is really serious family issues. these are economic issues. anybody tells me birth control is a social issue hadn't bought birth control. this is astronomic birth control. >> or they haven't bought diapers. >> but they will. and so we are in a very dangerous time right now. state-by-state, we've seen things that we've never seen before. it is really rolling things backwards. what we just saw in texas. it was outrageous, but it already -- the state had already passed the state invasive vaginal ultra sound bill. that was in law before we even heard about it. so this is an extreme case. at the end of the day, i have to tell you, the one thing we have do is win elections. that's how we fix this.

[ applause ] >> i think that applause is -- >> i think they applauded your answer but not my question. >> on that note, let's applaud the most wonderful question. and if i could just say as the president of emily's list and the organization is proudly running the madam president program, i want to thank you all for joining us today and the first madam president town hall. of course, there's nowhere better to start than the nation's first important place when it comes to presidential campaigns, right here in iowa. so thank you for your hospitality. thank you for having us. we're going take this to new hampshire, of course, second, and then to nevada and you're going to see a lot more. i ask you to join this movement.

go to emily's list.org, sign up for the madam president campaign and get your friends do it. all of them -- your sisters, mothers, daughters, then get your husbands and your sons and your co-workers because we need them all. and i will tell you this -- we can get this done. we can make history but we can also elect the very best person to be president of the united states. so on that, please, another round of applause for these incredible women who joined me on the stage today. thank you. and here's to iowa electing a woman president. thank you. thank you so much. >> i'm sorry?

. >> they had a made for colbert. it's embarrassing to have steve king in iowa. do you think how dangerous do you think the scening tear of state is for mcconnell? >> i think she's a very strong

candidate. she's got the skill and courage and i think he's going have a tea party primary which means he has to pay attention to the right wing and not be able to dress himself as a moderate in the primary. that's always helpful. so uh think -- right now, she's neck and neck. >> i hope he gets defeated, i really do. >> it would be exciting. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. >> hi. >> thank you for all of your support for women that you kept in your job. and i certainly hope that hillary -- you know, wins in this election because i campaigned out for her the last time. i worked so hard. i was so disappointed that she lost. it's another chance -- thank you. >> i'm excited. optimistic. >> thank you for all of your

work. >> thank you very much. >> wonderful. >> yeah. >> terrific. >> terrific. yeah. >> good luck to you. >> thank you. >> you're my inspiration. >> good, i'm glad. >> i'm monica and i'm running in district 1 as well. >> nice to see you. >> i have three daughters. >> you can relate how things go. so you're wonderful. i loved your candor and we follow with interest, of course, everything that happened in your race in iowa. everybody was curious. it's all good. >> absolutely. >> i'm sorry, i have to steal you away now. >> okay. >> thank you for running for the first -- >> thank you, thank you. >> i understand that you were following -- >> that's terrific. >> i have a lot of friends from st. louis in for bosnia. >> of course, we have a huge population. >> the largest in the country.

>> yeah. >> yeah, absolutely. >> have you met -- i don't think she's -- >> i have. i met a lot of the botz anyians in the community. they're great. we're lucky to have them in st. louis. >> good democrats. >> great democrats. >> good luck to you. hang in there. >> i appreciate it. >> eating cookies and drank a lot of wine and then i got off of the couch and went at it. >> yes. thank you. >> so nice to see you. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> i want to steal you away over here. over here. >> all right.

>> coming up here on c-span, the encore of first ladies, influence and image features julia grant. then senator ted cruz of texas and political strategist dick morris speak at the western conservative summit. >> coming up on the next "washington journal," immigration reform and a report by the bipartisan policy's centers immigration task force. then john hoff meister, former president on jell oil on oil and gas development in the u.s. then the film project on life in detroit. washington journal live every morning at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> wednesday, the six democratic

can't dates in the mayoral base will debate. the event hosted by ny-one tv will include anthony weiner. a live preview of the debate at 6:00 p.m. eastern and the debate at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> last few years, the left has decided that the political debate is worth lest, they're not going to debate policy, they're not going to debate what is the best way to solve the nation's problems. they're not going to provide evidence. they're going to label us morally deficient human beings unworthy of debate. >> the editor at large ben shapiro is september's in depth guest and will take your questions live for three hours. then in the months ahead, civil rights leader congressman john lewis. jackie o. to nancy reagan, your questions for kitty kelly. then feminism critic and

philosophy professor, general for hop summers. radio talk show host and judicial activist mark levine, in depth, live on book tv on c-span 2. >> chuck hagel took part in a joint news conference with the chinese defense minister. here's some of what he said about the situation in egypt. you can see the event in this entirety at 1:30 a.m. on c-span or any time on our website c-span.org. >> i want to know about mubarak report? i'm not aware of it. i can't help you. saudi arabia. as you know, saudi arabia, uae, kuwait announced a couple of weeks ago that they committed to a considerable amount of the

assistance to egypt. the specifics of your question regarding saudi arabia, i don't know about those specifics. your question regarding cancellation of apache helicopters or other parts aas i said to bob, we're reviewing all aspects of our relationship. >> on that, mr. secretary, is the u.s. going to effect any change, to bring an end to the bloodshed in egypt right now? and why not answer the calls from capitol hill, in particular now. pull all of the aid out if they're not cooperating and don't appear to be cooperating at any level? >> there's not a consistent call from capitol hill one way or the other on this issue. but more though the point, we

have serious interests in egypt. and that part of the world. this is a very complicated problem. we continue to work with all of the parties to try to help as much as we can. facilitate a reconciliation stop of the violence. our ability to influence the outcome in egypt is limited. it's up to the egyptian people. they are a large great sovereign nation. and it will be their responsibility to sort this out. all nations are limited in their influence in other nation's internal issues. i don't think the united states is without influence. but that has to be a collaborative effort focused on

what the egyptian people want supporting the egyptian people? and we believe as i said, the president said, secretary kerry said, pastor patterson, deputy secretary state burns, that should come as an inclusive, open, democratic process allowing all people to have a role in the future of their country. thank you. . . .