Had I heard first-hand that John Kasich had commented that “women came out of their kitchens” in his 1978 campaign for a state office in Ohio, I wouldn’t have batted an eye.
Less than half of women worked outside the home in 1978. Kasich spoke in admiration – and thanks — for all the stay-at-home Moms who were willing to take time away from their housework and families for his sake. (When, exactly, did progressives make being a homemaker a negative thing in the first place? Is it a “Democrat thing”?)
I’m a conservative Republican, an Army veteran, and an educated business woman. I got my degree the old fashioned way: I wrote a blank check to my country payable up to, and including, the value of my life. Then, I worked, full-time, for the rest of it.
I was a military brat, exposed to a wide array of political views on bases across the country. Before “real” life kicked in, I may even have considered myself a Democrat. My assimilation to conservatism was a gradual thing.
I joined the United States Army at nineteen. There, I found myself an equal among the men with whom I served, and made choices to keep it that way. I worked just as hard, pushed myself just as much, and measured up to every man in my unit. Over time, my service caused me to despise liberal political ideas. I no longer saw myself as the “victim” portrayed by progressive leaders to pander to many young women.
After the army, I made choices to better myself; I didn’t need the government to do it for me.
I finished my undergraduate and graduate degree while working full time. I now have a successful, upward-moving career. I don’t find my male counterparts to be a threat to my professional growth or career progress. I’m certainly not stuck “in the kitchen.” And I would very much resent being promoted or being “cut slack” by colleagues or superiors because I’m a woman.
Frankly, the social, gender, and class-conscience politics of the extremist Left – now sadly the mainstream of the Democrat Party — are at the bottom of my list of concerns. Compared to “real” things — like national security, the economy, ISIS, Chinese provocations in the China Seas, and the $19 trillion national debt – the voluble pandering of Bernie and Hillary are just plain laughable.
Today, as a young (under 30) professional woman, I proudly support Ohio Governor John Kasich for president. I admire him for many things, but mostly his candor. I like that he isn’t scripted and that he speaks from his heart, not from memorized sound bites to be recited by rote in the 30 seconds of a debate reply.
Governor Kasich’s town hall statement acknowledged the value of the stay-at-home women who helped him in the 1970’s and today. His wife, Karen; his campaign manager, Beth Hansen; and his lieutenant governor, Mary Taylor, all show me that the manufactured kerfuffle in all today’s papers is utter nonsense. (Ms. Hansen was the governor’s chief of staff. Lt. Governor Taylor is charged with Ohio’s regulatory reform, a centerpiece proposal of Governor Kasich’s economic plan. So, not exactly fetching coffee and keeping his calendar.)
Governor Kasich focuses on things that the nation’s chief executive should: national defense, the economy, fiscal responsibility, and foreign policy. In this presidential election, those are the things that this young, professional, woman is concerned about.
Those policies will be felt every day by every American, whether you are a woman at work, a woman in the kitchen, or a woman in the armed services – and felt equally with men.