Looks good for the women candidates this year as well as the dems.

[Jon8503]

Figure everyone is getting wrapped a little tight before Tuesday. Good luck to everyone on the KS side Tuesday.
NOTE: most of the women candidates are also dems, so even better.

Women poised for gains on Election Day By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer
Sat Nov 4, 10:41 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo is giving female candidates one of the best chances to significantly boost their ranks within Congress and statehouses since the heralded "Year of the Woman" in 1992.

"I've been calling it the perfect storm for these women," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. "Before they even open their mouths, it's clear they are not your standard-issue members of Congress — not white male, blue suit with red tie."

"They look like change, and are seen as agents of change," Walsh said.

The ranks of competitive female candidates this year are lopsidedly Democratic, so they could play a key role in determining which party controls Congress and statehouses come January.

Of the 140 women running for the House, for example, 98 are Democrats. On the Senate side, 12 women are running, eight of them Democrats. The party is particularly hopeful for female candidates in two Senate races: Amy Klobuchar is favored to win a Minnesota seat held by retiring Democrat Mark Dayton, and Claire McCaskill is running neck-and-neck with Republican Sen. Jim Talent (news, bio, voting record) in Missouri.

Record numbers of women now serve in the House (67) and Senate (14).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061104/ap_on_el_ge/women_candidates;_ylt=AkX9FCVocxzQOtln1us858EGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-

[SheilaT]

1. Several years ago I read something

which said that until women reached some particular threshold, which I think was about 40%, in a legislative body or in high office in general, things did not change from the male model. But once women reached that threshold, all of a sudden legislation changed dramatically and in ways that very much benefitted families and individuals.

And when you consider that women are somewhat more than 50% of the population, it's appalling that we're not more of a presence in government. Maybe Kathleen Sebelius's gender has made even more of a difference than any of us generally understand.