Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET This, That and the Other THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET by MARGARET DICKSON Gov. Bev Perdue's decision not to seek re-election stunned many North Carolinians and sent the N.C. political scene into a tizzy. Who will step up to the Democratic plate? Who will the Republicans kick around now that they have no whipping boy — oops! — no whipping girl? What does her decision mean for other Democratic candidates from President Obama to state legislative races? The biggest question though is why did she choose to take herself out of the political fray? I do not pretend to know why Gov. Perdue made the decision she did, but I suspect her thinking had several different branches — fi rst among them is probably her stated and long championed support for public education at all levels and the assault she sees being waged against it by the General Assembly. The deep and broad toxic atmosphere of partisan politics in Raleigh and elsewhere must have played a part, as must her own desire and that of those who care for her to have a family and personal life like most other people do. These are reasonable concerns to weigh in making a major life decision, and —speaking here for myself and not for Gov. Perdue — so is the general diffi culty of women running and serving in political offi ce. Trust me on this one. Women make up a little more than 51 percent of our nation's and our state's population. Women now constitute solid majorities in liberal arts colleges and universities across our land and in most professional programs except engineering and design. But in elective service not so much. Only 75 of 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are women (17 percent), and only 17 of 100 U.S. Senators are women (again, 17 percent). The numbers are a little better in the North Carolina House — 33 of 120 members are women (27 percent) but worse in the N.C. Senate —5 of 50 (10 percent). There are many reasons for these disparities, as well, including the fact that women, who usually wait until after they have raised a family, generally enter politics later than men do. Many women often lack the business contacts needed to raise the large amounts of cash needed to run for political offi ce. More nebulous but no less real are the attitudes that cannot really be polled because people are too embarrassed to state them publicly but which are out there nonetheless. A comment made by a woman voter to a volunteer calling on behalf of a woman candidate during the 2010 election cycle sums up this lingering prejudice perfectly. Said the voter, "You tell that woman to put on her apron and go home!" We've come a long way, baby, but… • • • A review of most any editorial page these days or a dose of two of the talking heads on television will include some angst about the decline or breakdown of America, perhaps a conversation about how we are losing our edge or about the death of the American Dream. I am — like many of you — not quite ready to concede any of this but am thinking about it more and more. Two books with different, but concerned perspectives have crossed my path lately, and I mention them for anyone who is thinking seriously about the course of our nation. The controversial and never boring Charles Murray has a new book, Coming Apart, on the growing divide among Americans, which is turning us into a two- caste society: the haves and the have-nots with all that each group entails socially, educationally and culturally. You do not have to agree with all Murray puts forward to fi nd this book both riveting and disturbing. N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue threw the N.C. political scene into a tizzy with her decision not to seek reelection. One of America's favorite farm boys made very good, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, has a new and kinder look at our nation, one that offers both suggestions and hope. The Times of Our Lives: A Conversation About America; Who We Are, Where We've Been and Where We need to Go Now, to Recapture the American Dream uses Brokaw's decades long observation of our nation and our world to assess our strengths and where we need to right our course. Both books are thoughtful and provocative. • • • For the past year, I have co-chaired a philanthropic group of local women who are concerned about homelessness among women and children in our community. At a regular meeting last week, we had some very special guests — a group of fourth- grade Girl Scouts who are also working to combat these problems locally. Happily for both groups — they sold us some yummy Girl Scout cookies they had brought along for the occasion. Sad to say, though, while the Scouts were telling the more mature group about their efforts with homeless families, some scoundrel snuck in the back door of our meeting place and — you guessed it! — stole their take from the cookie sales! The ladies of the group made it up to the Scouts, but still... MARGARET DICKSON, Contributing Writer, Up & Coming Weekly, COM- MENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL Surf and Turf for Two for only $39.95 Banquet rooms available up to 100 guests APRIL 7-13, 2010 PROUDLY SPONSORED BY VOL VOLUME 15 ISSUE 14 PocketGi deGuide Up & Coming Weekly's 2010 Up & Comin ocket Guide ng Weeklys 201 Guide 2 10 www.upandcomingweekly.com com m HEY! 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