If the Shoe Fits, Run in It.

Shoes.

I never really thought that they'd be influential in politics. Of course, there was the time Soviet Premier Nikita Khurschev used one of his as a prop to make his point when speaking at the UN. Oh and when an Iraqi journalist used his as a weapon and flung it at President George Bush because he was really really mad at him. And closer to home, Connecticut Secretary of the State candidate Jerry Farrell featured his selection of sneakers over boring black loafer-y type shoes in a campaign commercial last year. He would later wear those sneakers all over Connecticut so that voters knew he was ready to get to work.

This week a writer suggested that one candidate's savvy shoe purchase makes her THE candidate for a Senate seat being vacated by Connecticut's "Independent" Senator Joe Lieberman. In an article in the Middletown Patch, the writer satirically (I hope) throws his support behind Senate candidate Susan Bysiewicz because of her overall style and shoe selection, in particular a gorgeous pair of black pumps that had a marvelous beige streak that apparently would make even the most discerning of shoe collectors jealous. I wonder if Carrie Bradshaw would agree.

The writer says:

"In my own defense, I'm NOT a male chauvinist or sexist. Whether we like to admit it, politics, especially in a digital age, is performance art, an art in which personal style has tremendous power to move a fickle electorate. That is true whether the candidate is male or female."

I guess he is right. I can remember judging a candidate for wearing an Hermes tie. He, of course, was trying to pitch himself as someone who understands the needs of working families despite his wealth. In my opinion, his tie betrayed his words.

But I do think women are all too often judged differently than men when they run for office. With Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and Governor Sarah Palin working on runs for the White House, this very issue is being more widely discussed. In an article on CNN, Deborah Siegelman wonders why we haven't moved beyond it since Palin and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were both campaigning for the White House last presidential cycle. I know, I know, I know, Palin was a VP candidate. But come on.

A recent blog entry on a youth politics website discusses a recent article on Politico that talks about how Bachmann and Palin are portrayed in photographs. The blogger feels Bachmann is made out to be the new Britney Spears-a-la-shaved-head-meltdown of politics. I don't think it goes that far. But we are starting to see it with all the news chatter about Bachmann's migraines--which may be synonomous to Brit Brit's infamous head shaving photos that we saw over and over and over. For the past two days, I can't go to any news site without seeing something about Bachman's incapacitating migraines, which in my opinion communicates her being too weak for the job. The typical reason why women can't run with the boys.

Perhaps this would no longer be a problem for female candidates if more women ran for public office. Today, women hold 22.1 percent of available statewide executive positions, which is down 27.6 percent from 10 years ago. The outcome of the 2010 elections resulted in the number of women in Congress declining for the first time in 30 years. Here's an interesting LA Times article that gives you more.

Further, in a Huffington Post blog Yashar Ali argues that one need not only look at who's running for office, but also at who's running the campaigns. He notes the absence of women in the behind the scenes work has largely been ignored.

But there are people working to change both factors. New York Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand created an organization called Off the Sidelines to encourage more women to run for office. It appears a bit more like a campaign gimmick, but a woman can hope. The White House Project provides support to women candidates and even offers you the opportunity to send an invitation to a woman you think should run for office. Right here in Connecticut, the Women's Campaign School at Yale equips women with the right tools to run for office or run a campaign. (You can watch some of their sessions to get inspired: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 AM, Day 3 PM, and Day 4).

Making the decision to run for office or to run a campaign is not as easy as what shoes to wear. But the difference you would make is significant. Today, just think about doing it.

(This blog post does not serve as a CT NOW endorsement of any of the candidates mentioned. Any opinions expressed are solely that of the blog writer.)