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19891980s NEWS
The Eleventh Hour - Show #168
Guests: Geraldine Ferraro, former Vice-Presidential candidate; Elizabeth Holtzman, District Attorney; and Joe White,political strategist
Title: Women in Politics

The Eleventh Hour goes on the campaign trail with Barbara Boggs Sigmund, mayor of Princeton, New Jersey, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Governor.

Original Broadcast Date: 4-20-89

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Video Images Grid Descriptive Log
01:01:15 75.88 thumbnail
WNET30 Graphic
01:01:28 88.52 thumbnail
Title Slate: The Eleventh Hour #168, Women in Politics
Rec: 4/18/89, Dir: Andrew Wilk
01:01:52 112.63 thumbnail
Blank
01:02:00 120.34 thumbnail
Funding for show by announcer and overlay The Eleventh Hour graphic.
01:02:14 134.37 thumbnail
The Eleventh Hour graphics and show opener.
01:02:30 150.29 thumbnail
Host Robert Lipsyte welcomes viewers to The Eleventh Hour and introduces himself.
01:02:35 155.95 thumbnail
Host Lipsyte talks about the topic of tonight's program. America is overwhelmingly governed by men! (Big surprise lol) Even though most of the people in America are women. Lipsyte announces guests coming up, Geraldine Ferraro and Elizabeth Holtzman then cuts to a clip related to this topic.
01:03:05 185.38 thumbnail
People cheering and clapping, holding up a big green banner (obscured)
01:03:08 188.47 thumbnail
Barbara Boggs Sigmund, democratic politician and Mayor of Princeton New Jersey is seen in lime green raincoat at a guberniortorial campaign rally, talking through megaphone, standing in the crowd at a union rally in Newark, signing autographs, talking with constituents.
01:03:35 215.83 thumbnail
Barbara Boggs Sigmund, with patch over her left eye, speaking with unseen interviewer about how she feels the negative attitude toward women in politics doesn't actually exist among the electorate itself, but rather those attitudes exist mainly within the power structure of the political parties.
01:04:23 263.02 thumbnail
Faux "Ballot for Governors Senators and Congresswomen" overlays American campaign flag. Statistics appear as Lipsyte narrates indicating how many women are holding each of the offices.
01:04:37 277.58 thumbnail
Barbara Sigmund's mother, Representative Lindy Boggs of New Orleans on the steps of the Capital - the first woman elected to Congress from the state of Louisiana.
01:04:40 280.91 thumbnail
B&W photo of young Lindy Boggs' , her husband House Speaker Hale Boggs, and their family in Washington DC in front of the Capital.
01:05:09 309.12 thumbnail
Barbara Sigmund speaking with unknown unseen Eleventh Hour interviewer about her campaign and her mother's influence.
01:05:18 318.39 thumbnail
Sigmund in bright yellow coat leaning over signing documents
01:05:20 320.58 thumbnail
Legal document with Barbara B. Sigmund signature, Mayor of Princeton, and government seal.
01:05:24 324.5 thumbnail
Pan out from statue and wide shot Sigmund is seen in a Princeton New Jersey park standing next to the statue of "The Little Vintner of Colmar". A group of children are watching, listening
01:05:33 333.25 thumbnail
Gold Plaque reads: The Little Vintner of Colmar, Replica of a work of Auguste Barthopldi, The City of Colmar France, Birthplace of the Creator of the Statue fo Liberty, To Her Sister City The Borough of Princeton, 1988.
01:05:40 340.41 thumbnail
Male official throwing water on the Little Vintner
01:05:49 349.08 thumbnail
Close ups series of clasped shaking hands.
01:05:54 354.48 thumbnail
Barbara Boggs Sigmund in bright green raincoat seen shaking hands and speaking with constituents, a young man wearing a suit; and African American man in maroon jacket; a young man and woman.
01:05:55 355.81 thumbnail
Boggs shaking hands and talking with unknown African American man
01:06:03 363.74 thumbnail
Princeton pirate mascot walking through crowd cheering, crowd is cheering.
01:06:06 366.35 thumbnail
Boggs is seen in crowd seated with male officials and Princeton Seton Hall Pirates Basketball players. Lipsyte narrates that
Boggs lost an eye to cancer.
01:06:13 373.36 thumbnail
Pan out to wide shot of crowd at celebration for the Seton Hall Pirates Basketball team.
01:06:16 376.27 thumbnail
Young man at rally with black "SHU" patch over left eye
01:06:20 379.97 thumbnail
Boggs in green raincoat shaking hands with male official on stage at rally. Banner behind her obscured reads; "South Orange Village, County of Essex
01:06:21 381.62 thumbnail
Large banner on building "Congratulations Seton Hall Pirates 1989 NCAA Final Four". Beneath the banner the number 76 on the window
01:06:29 389.64 thumbnail
Tilt down on huge crowd of happy people cheering, blue and white balloons and banners in the crowd.
01:06:33 393.89 thumbnail
Boggs at podium on stage crowded with people addresses the crowd, reading off of a plaque she holds in her hand, "Seton Hall Pirates Day in the Borough of Princeton..."
01:06:39 399.49 thumbnail
Boggs speaking with unseen interviewer again does not appear in fr
01:07:19 439.18 thumbnail
The Eleventh Hour graphic and Host Lipsyte in the studio introduces and welcomes guests: Geraldine Ferraro, former US Representative former Vice Presidential candidate now President of the International Institute for Women's Political Leadership and Elizabeth Holtzman, District Attorney of Brooklyn.
01:07:48 468.4 thumbnail
Wide shot of Robert Lipsyte in the studio talking with Ferraro and Holtzman. Magazines (Time and ?)on table in foreground with Ferraro's picture on covers.
01:07:50 470.89 thumbnail
INSERT

Robert Lipsyte:

you certainly did that more than any woman. And your breakthrough really gave promise of a flood tide of women politicians behind you. And it doesn't seem to have happened. Yes, it does. It is what you've done

Geraldine Ferraro
Yes, it does. It is what you've done is is you've taken a look at the statistics on a very, very high level. One doesn't start in political office by running for governor by running for the United States Senate or by running for Congress. Usually, though Liz and I both starting started in elective office by running for Congress. Most people start in school boards or in the city councils or in the assembly or in the state, one of the state legislative bodies. And it's it's if you look there, that's where the numbers have increased considerably. It's not where we'd like to be.

Robert Lipsyte
the statistics don't really bear that up. In the last 14 years, there really has not been a big upsurge. And second roll, there also seems some sort of a lid, something seems to happen in that when women go from those lower offices, which are considered almost volunteer or mommy offices. They don't jump over

Geraldine Ferraro
No, you're wrong in both instances. One thing is the numbers have increased, they haven't they're not huge now, because they were very little before. So if you've gone from seven to 14%, inside of a very short period of time, instead of a decade. That's that's doubling is still doubling, not too many. But we run into another thing. And that's that most offices are held by white males. incumbency is very, very powerful, whether it's in the city council level, or it's in the state assembly, or it's in Congress, or it's in the United States. Senate. incumbency is, is really the thing that returns people to office in greater numbers, where women do well and the statistics have proven This is where there's an open seat. Women can come in and be as good a candidate and looking at 84 what we found and what we found since with the numbers is that women have said well, you know, she could do it, I could do it too and more people are running, some are losing but they're running and i think that's that's the important piece of that.

Robert Lipsyte
Women are still losing to incumbent white males?

Elizabeth Holtzman
Well, I think I agree with Geri that if you look at the lowest levels, in fact, the numbers have tripled in the past 15 years, if you look at women running for city council positions or for state legislative positions, but if you look at the highest levels and a way, it's like a crab going sideways, in some cases backwards, we had more women in the us senate and in the 1930s, than we do today. We had the same number of women in the US cabinet today, as we did when Franklin Roosevelt appointed the first woman. We barely move forward, and we have one more woman, Governor. So we really haven't made progress in that respect. When you look at

Robert Lipsyte
that personally, I mean, I still have my my Liz Holtzman for for senate button, I was sure

Elizabeth Holtzman
That's a collector's item.

Robert Lipsyte
I mean, was Did you come up against a wall that did something happen to you?

Elizabeth Holtzman
I think every woman knows in the forefront comes up against a barrier. And sometimes we break those barriers, and sometimes we don't

Robert Lipsyte
What is the barrier? it the old boys network is it money

Geraldine Ferraro
would have been the senator from New York, if Jacob Javits had not run on the Liberal party line. There was no doubt, it's not she would have been, she would have won because she was an extremely competent member of congress ran a good campaign won the primary

Robert Lipsyte
Was that just a unique situation of some old guy who wasn't going to give it up?

Geraldine Ferraro
You'd have to address that one

Elizabeth Holtzman
Geri, I agree with you. There were other factors that had a big impact. But we couldn't raise the money that normally a more normal Democratic candidates could raise for a Senate race in New York State.
01:11:35 695.71 thumbnail
INTERVIEW CONTINUES

Robert Lipsyte 11:35
I mean, both of you, both of you had very solid grassroots organizations and queens and in Brooklyn, which if for guys is kind of the building block.

Geraldine Ferraro 11:44
But going back to 1982, and we're going back nine years, it was tougher for a woman to raise money in 1980. And in 1978, when I ran, now we are finding that women are raising the same number of dollars meanwhile we ran up. As men. So as you know, the problem, again, that you have is if you're a challenger, you have more troubles raising money than an incumbent. And if your male challenge, you're gonna have problems just as you would if you're a woman challenger. So you really have to look at at the whole picture to determine is the reason a woman is not raising is the reason that she's not raising money, the fact that she is a woman, or is there something else, and if if challenge versus incumbency is in there, I think, I think it weighs a lot. We had no problem

Robert Lipsyte 12:23
is that that means that there is a general overall problem or in each specific case, you have to know whether it's because you're a newcomer, or because you're a woman,

Geraldine Ferraro 12:32
I think you have I think as a general basis, I think if you go back to the women's campaign, front of the phone, and the National Women's political caucus, and the people gather the statistics, they will tell you that women today are not having as much difficulty raising money as years ago. In fact, we're on the same level, I can raise money now as equally as easily as any male candidate. But so Can someone who is less well known, for instance, Nita Lowey raised over a million dollars for her challenge to DioGuardi, who raised over a million dollars too. So I mean, it's we're not the problems are not the same as they were in 78 when I first ran for Congress, or in 1980, when Liz ran for the United States Senate.

Elizabeth Holtzman 13:07
But there's some of the problems is still there. There's no question. I think women have made tremendous strides in terms of fundraising. And unfortunately, that's such a key ingredient. But it is. But still there are all kinds of other prejudices. When I ran for district attorney, for example. That was I was the first woman to run for that spot in New York City. No woman had ever held it. And there was a lot of skepticism about whether a woman could be a DA I mean, people came up to me on the streets and said, you know, Liz, I voted for you for Congress, I voted for you for Senate. This isn't a job for a woman And they said other people came up and said, how's it going to? How are you going to function with all that pressure? And others said to me, how are you going to have men working for you? I don't know what they thought Congress was like, maybe that was okay for women, because all you do is talk there. But da was a real job. And people had real questions about whether a woman could do it. Now if you went to people in Brooklyn and said, Could a woman be da? I mean, they'd look at you as though that were a crazy question. But as I said earlier, there are many, many barriers. Was there money or other

Robert Lipsyte 14:09
Negative campaign against Yeah, she's a fine girl or something. But I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't want it to be da.

Elizabeth Holtzman 14:15
And that resonated because people were very worried could a woman do this job, that barrier has been broken. But will a woman running for da in Des Moines, Iowa, or in Las Vegas have the same kind of problems? And then you talk about women running for other executive positions, which I think is the toughest for women to run for? And I'm sure Geri encounters some of that too

Robert Lipsyte 14:34
What kindof advice would you give to one of those bright young women coming up behind you.

Elizabeth Holtzman 14:37
Eleanor Roosevelt had something that I learned recently it stands you in good stead if you want to be a woman in politics, you've got to have skin as thick as a rhinoceros. I think it's probably true.

Robert Lipsyte 14:47
Geri, do you have a bit of advice? I mean, we're seeing all these wonderful, bright women coming out of law school with MBAs are just kind of ripe to get into politics. What do you tell them?

Geraldine Ferraro 14:58
I taught last semester last year at the Harvard Institute of Politics, I had lots of young people coming out, saying, Go, Go for it, you know, get involved become part of a political party. And I usually say I don't care which one just, you know, grab one. But of course, that I do advise that the better part is the Democratic Party. But they've got to get involved either in a political party, or on an issue or that's an environmental issue or, or what we could turn women's issues. I mean, you've got to get involved. And that's how you get into politics, politics, politicians, are people who care about about something, whether it's the future of the country or an issue or about what's what's going on in the world. And so you've got to start someplace. So join up. And

Robert Lipsyte 15:41
let me let me stop you for just a moment we've talked about the big problem with women is that they're the latest immigrant group into politics, and they're fighting all the people who are there already and don't want to give it up. But women do have specific problems. And I would like you to meet Barbara bog segments campaign manager, Joe Slade, white of New York. He started in politics in George McGovern's presidential campaign in 1971. And now he's a man who specializes in women's political campaigns.
01:16:00 960.49 thumbnail
Host Lipsyte interrupts interview to introduce Barbara Boggs Sigmund's campaign manager, Joe White of New York who specializes in women's campaigns. Lipsyte turns to look at small television set.
01:16:11 971.83 thumbnail
INSERT
Joe White:
There are enormous differences in handling a woman candidate, mad candidate, one of the things we found when polling comes back with women candidates, even if that woman is unknown, voters say to us, she's pushy, aggressive, strident. They're assuming that any woman running for higher office must be pushy, aggressive and strident. And that's something we have to deal with. Here's one way we dealt with that with Evelyn Murphy's lieutenant governor's race in Massachusetts.
01:17:20 1040.09 thumbnail
Joe White turns to look at his television screen and a TV ad for Evelyn Murphy, Democrat for Lieutenant Governor plays.
01:17:33 1053.52 thumbnail
INSERT WITH JOE WHITE.

Joe White:
would destroy Evelyn's career. The voters of Massachusetts loved the idea of making history love this spot, and elected Evelyn. Probably the strangest phenomenon that I've ever encountered working with women in politics, is the polls show over and over again. That it's younger women voters have the biggest problem in voting for older women candidates. Here's a spot for an unsuccessful woman candidate I didn't do.
01:18:02 1082.77 thumbnail
White turns on video to play a political ad for a female candidate for Governor, Norma Paulus
01:18:42 1122.46 thumbnail
White plays tv political campaign ad for Senator Harriett Woods. Two girls play ball in background. Red car in driveway.
01:19:08 1147.98 thumbnail
INSERT
Joe White:
But voters don't like heavy handed negative attacks on women candidates. So in a Florida campaign, we use humor to discredit a woman candidate. She'd spent an insane amount of taxpayer money on car phones bills. So we showed her on her car phone ignoring voters voters laughed at her political career was over.
01:19:51 1191.9 thumbnail
The Eleventh Hour graphic and Robert Lipsyte returns with Ferraro and Holtzman.
01:19:53 1193.44 thumbnail
INTERVIEW

Geraldine Ferraro 19:53
Yeah, I he said something very interesting, which we found at the 84 campaign was that young women do get very up tight about women who are running for office. In fact, in in the 84 campaign, the women that we lost in droves were women who were in their 50s and 60s, my age and older, who had held the traditional role of wife and mother. And young women who were home with children who are starting families. What the focus groups showed was that they were kind of intimidated by by a woman running for national office. And they felt according to these focus groups, that if I were successful in doing a man's job, that somehow that would put down what they were doing. It was a very interesting. as a matter of fact, what happened afterwards, we did focus groups after the election found the exact same thing that really disturbed me, because I was, I feel very strongly that that, you know, the role of wife and mother is obviously very important to our society. And I did the Pepsi commercial for lots of reasons. But that was one of them. Because we did we did a whole thing on how important it was for women to be the most important job I'd ever held.

Robert Lipsyte 21:04
That was the commercial with your daughter. Yeah, that was the message of that was a political message as well as a commercial

Geraldine Ferraro 21:09
as well. Yeah, it was, it was the most important The question was, what makes you most proud. And the tagline was being a mother?

Robert Lipsyte 21:18
Did you run polls after that? And see if that feelings had changed?

Geraldine Ferraro 21:21
No, no, but we had no, because I wasn't going to do anything anymore about running at that point. But But we had done it beforehand, just to get a feeling on where people were coming from. And it was very disturbing to find women reacting like that to the kids, you know, if it was to me so much as it was to the candidates. And I think that's what he's saying as well is that, that young women do get a little bit uptight, especially

Are you feeling any sense of,

Elizabeth Holtzman 21:44
I think, to go back to them, thank you. I still want to go back to the point I started with earlier, which is that, despite the progress, there is still enormous stereotypes. I looked at that commercial and one of the things I saw was that commercial of this woman, Norah Paulsen. And one of the things that I saw was that she was personally criticizing this man. It's very dangerous for a woman candidate personally to criticize because then you get right up against some of the deepest stereotypes about how women and men are supposed to behave to each other. And that's part of the, what would you call it, minefield that women candidates have to walk through, because the whole notion still about gender, stereotypes about behavior, are a deep seated in the societies any, and you never know, kind of when you're going to run across them

Robert Lipsyte 22:32
You are in a tough position district attorney to go to controller I mean, these are these are very male position Congress

Elizabeth Holtzman 22:39
Congress and Senate

Geraldine Ferraro 22:41
just listen to what you just said, because they're always held by incumbants,

Robert Lipsyte 22:44
stereotypically, I mean, as that ad attacking you showed that, you know,

Geraldine Ferraro 22:49
there's a double standard, no doubt about it. And that's that's part of the thing is, is in Minnesota, several years ago, Joan Growe ran for the United States Senate and what she did was she called for the incumbent senators, tax returns to be released, they kept on calling her mean Joan Growe, what kind of silliness is that the taxpayers are entitled to know. I say that is one who is already released had already released fine. But she was called mean, whereas if a man had done it, this he were entitled to know so there's a real double standard that comes that women candidates, and it's particularly in advertising
01:23:22 1402.08 thumbnail
INTERVIEW CONTINUES

of of women? In a sense, the feeling was that were you were you Geri, the candidate or Geri, the woman,

Geraldine Ferraro 23:30
I was both in 84 I if I were not a woman, I would not have been the vice presidential candidate. I'm the first person to say that. I think there was there was real desire by Fritz Mondale to say Okay, enough, let's let's open doors of opportunity for women. And, you know, where is our universe in which we pick these people for national office, usually to the United States Senate or the state houses and they weren't a tremendous amount of people. So the next step was the Congress and I was there. So I was there both as Geri Ferraro the candidate, but also Geri Ferraro the candidate, the woman, and the candidacy was very special in 84, it's something that will not be repeated, because it was it was unique, more than the candidate the candidacy. So that my situation was very different in 84, from what it was in 78. In 78 I was cheering for the candidate. And the fact that I was a woman was one thing that I had to and I say this, you know, deliberate I had to overcome in the ninth congressional district because it is a very conservative district. You know, very, very large ethnic groups very concerned about home and family I am in was a wife and mother I had to portray that but I was also a very successful prosecuting attorney in in Queens County. I was a bureau chief and my slogan was finally a tough Democrat. That didn't work in it. Because it wasn't it wasn't so much Geri Ferrara

Elizabeth Holtzman 24:49
Can I just respond for a second on, because I think we're talking a lot about negatives. And I think it's also important to pick up on a theme that was said about the strengths that a woman brings to a candidacy, and this is also based on stereotypes in males will be based on the fact that too few women have ever been given power. So they haven't had an opportunity to be corrupted by it. But women and I, and I speak to you about this, from my own experiences in campaigning, women bring some very special qualities that the voters perceive voters think that women are likely to be much more honest, I think there's real view that a woman in office is not going to be out there stealing and putting the money in her own pocket. Secondly, I think that there's a view that a woman in office will be much more compassionate, will be caring, will use the powers of government to help people. On the other side,

Robert Lipsyte 25:34
this seems kind of negative in a sense to because what we're really talking about is that woman should have their fair shot,

Geraldine Ferraro 25:42
But those are all positives

Elizabeth Holtzman 25:42
i'm talking about these are positive attributes and strengths

Robert Lipsyte 25:45
You're talking about positive, then in terms of tactical ways to get elected.

Elizabeth Holtzman 25:50
voters reactions, I mean, these are the realities. I said it was a minefield, there's some secure ground that you can walk on one, the voters view that you're likely to be honest and compassionate and caring and competent. The minefields are that if you say the wrong thing, you can be strident aggressive, shrill, mean. All the other

Robert Lipsyte 26:10
Let me ask you, is there's something wrong in this country, because in Great Britain, Pakistan, India, Israel, the Philippines, you know, women have led the country.

Geraldine Ferraro 26:20
But you know, if you take a look at all those countries except the Philippines, I mean, they these are all places where the women have risen within their parties, and when support is have gotten into the power of the women who are at the head of those parties have gotten elected. I I think you have to look at where how we pick presidents and national figures in this country, and we pick them from a universe which is generally the state houses and and the United States Senate. I think with time we will have more women moving into those positions and more will become candidates. Pat Schroeder, I think is going to be a candidate 1992.

Robert Lipsyte 26:51
But we're gonna have to wait for that. If we may old girls network, to evolve.

Elizabeth Holtzman 26:55
It's taken a long time when I was elected 1972 I had the record as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Here we are 17 years later, and that record hasn't been broken. I thought he has an I'm sad about it. I it's nice to hold a record. But where are the other young women who I thought would be following me like a tidal wave. They're not there. And part of the problem is the money how much it costs. That's another Geri says they are there. There are followers. Yes. But it also costs more money. And women are not likely to bring as much into the into the pool when they start out because of a variety of other discriminatory effects that all they'll experience. But I think that if you look at what's happened to America, you have to have machine politics, which is here, the political bosses who don't like women and make it very tough. And the deep stereotypes that find expression Still, we still have a tough time, but we're making progress

Robert Lipsyte 27:48
We're going to have to leave it there. Elizabeth Holtzman Geraldine Farraro, thank you so very much for being with us. This is the 11th hour. I'm Robert Lipsyte.
01:27:53 1673.31 thumbnail
Interview concludes. Robert Lipsyte announces the show and introduces himself. Show ends.
01:28:02 1682.16 thumbnail
Show credits over Eleventh Hour graphics.
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Funding for show by announcer and overlay the Eleventh Hour graphic.
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