Wheaton in the House
The United Nations' Women's Conference in 1995 set a minimum standard for the number of women in the U.S. Congress. By 2000, reads the tenet, 50 percent of the Congressional seats should be held by women. Today, six years later, the number is 15.1 percent. Diane Farrell '77 and Paloma Capanna '88 are gearing up for a change.
By Mary Grauerholz
Diane Farrell '77 is in a national-profile, closely
watched race to represent Connecticut's 4th
Congressional District, against incumbent Rep. Chris
Shays (R-Bridgeport). Paloma A. Capanna '88 is bracing
for the Democratic primary for the New York 25th
Congressional District race.
Both women are primed to change the status of women in
national politics.
"The saddest thing about the state of American politics is the
lack of women in national office," Farrell says. "In the House
of Representatives, 16 percent are women. Women need to be
encouraged to run." Farrell recently concluded her second term
as a selectwoman in Westport, Conn., the first selectwoman to
serve in that town.
Capanna says, "There is still a gap, whether it is national politics
or presidents of national companies. We (women) have not
been politically empowered."
In an election-year twist, both women are in races that could
turn control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats.
Democratic women are running in almost half of the two
dozen most-competitive House races, potentially tipping the
scale toward Democratic control. The party needs an increase
of 15 seats nationwide to win a majority in the House of
Representatives--a serious challenge, but feasible enough to be
the subject of much speculation during this election year.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee chairman, noted in a March 24 New York
Times story: "In an environment where people are disgusted with
politics in general, who represents clean and change? Women."
Male-female ratios aside, the main task at hand, of course, is
to win. For both Capanna and Farrell, that means cogently expressing
meaningful issues and running a strong campaign with
adequate funding.
Farrell: All politics is local
Farrell gave Shays a rigorous challenge when the two ran
against one another the first time, in 2004. Shays won by four
slim points--52 to 48 percent. It was the first time Shays had
not won at least 60 percent of the vote in many years. This year,
Farrell is running a better-financed and higher profile race.
"The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and
Emily's List came on board earlier than last time," Farrell explained. "The national party this time recognizes my viability as
a candidate."
Shays' continuing support of President Bush is giving Farrell a
lot of grist for the political mill. She is finding much traction in
the discussion of the country≠s unrest over the war in Iraq and
other issues.
Comparing her previous race against Shays with today's
race, Farrell says. "People say, 'What's the difference between
'04 and '06?' I say, 'The issues that Shays and I debated have
matured.'
"The war in Iraq, in my opinion, is in a more precarious place
that it was," Farrell continues. Other issues on her radar are Medicare, the national debt, deficit, and No Child Left Behind,
President Bush's initiative to strengthen schools.
"The corruption scandals are not helping, either," Farrell
adds. "Americans are largely very unhappy."
If the Democrats win a majority in the House, Farrell says,
the Republicans would be more likely to compromise.
"Broadly speaking, what I've said is, when you≠ve had one
party ruling, you have no checks and balances. This is a
chance for us to put the checks≠ back in." The Republicans,
she adds, "would have to come to the table."
Early on, Farrell blended political work and parenting. She
was a preschool teacher and then a media planner. Later
she was an account executive for the advertising agency J.
Walter Thompson. While she raised her two daughters, Hilary
and Margaret, she worked in the family arenas of school,
church and community, as well as local government. She was
president of the Westport Young Women≠s League and the
Coleytown Elementary School Parent Teachers Association.
In her years as a Westport selectwoman and member of
the Westport Board of Finance, Farrell accrued expertise in
finance. "The thing I focused on was taxes," Farrell says. "At
the end of the day, at the local level especially, people really
do have a chance to evaluate how well their tax dollars are
being spent."
Farrell's proudest moment in her Westport town work was
the push for a new senior center. "I felt so strongly about
providing a permanent home for our seniors. They were constantly
being moved. I≠m very proud of that accomplishment."
Farrell cites Wheaton as a major influence in her political
accomplishments.
"My interest in government really began my freshman year
at Wheaton," Farrell says. "I was proud to be a government
major. When I run into other Wheaton alums, we always talk
about Professor Jay Goodman. He made government such an
interesting subject." Watergate played a part as well. "I entered
Wheaton just as the Watergate situation was blowing up. It
was kind of a convergence of a moment in history and a really
inspiring professor."
Supportive families also help. Farrell, 50, met her husband,
Winslow Farrell, during her sophomore year at Wheaton.
They have two grown daughters. Farrell says that serving in
Westport town government when her daughters were small
had its challenges; running a campaign with grown children is
much easier.
Farrell recalls the years of young motherhood. "It was tough.
As a mother, after so many years of putting your kids on the
bus and picking them up, I felt a little uncomfortable not being
there to meet them. But I also thought it was important to
present a good role model. When (the schools) asked for an
emergency phone number, I always gave the police department.
They knew where to find me.
"I was always a mommy first," Farrell continues.
Both Farrell and Capanna realize that a big part of the
struggle in their political careers is breaking into male-dominated politics. According to the Center for American Women and
Politics at Rutgers University, 81 women (of 535 total members)
are serving in the U.S. Congress. Women of color are especially
lacking, comprising just 3.5 percent of total members.
Capanna: In love with law
Capanna's heart was captured by politics early on. "I fell hopelessly
in love at age 10 with the First Amendment," she says. She
pities her parents today, she says, for dealing with "a 10-year-old
stomping around the house saying, ‘Congress cannot make a
law," filling in the blank for her issue of the day.
Capanna cites foreign policy and national security as countrywide
issues of most concern. Accountability and a balanced budget
are close behind. President Bush≠s wiretapping of American
citizens without a warrant especially rankles her. Capanna, a
lawyer specializing in matrimonial and family law, is vocal about
her allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.
"To me, the Constitution ranks really sacred, particularly the
First Amendment," Capanna says, the guarantee of freedom of
religion and freedom of expression.
Capanna was a preschooler when Betty Friedan≠s The
Feminine Mystique began the women≠s movement.
But the current imbalance in political
power has reignited feminist ideals that she
formed a generation after Friedan's.
"I've found myself in a sense experiencing a
desire to become connected with women's organizations
like NOW (National Organization for
Women), to say, 'your job is not finished,'" Capanna says.
Capanna, 39, lives in Webster, N.Y., with her husband, Peter
Consitt, and her stepson, Sam. She concedes that it is not easy to
be a wife, mother and political animal.
"I need to be candid," she says. "When you run for national
office, you pretty much kiss everybody goodbye. If your family
is not supportive, there is no way to run. All kudos to my husband,
who does laundry, cooks. He's really a wonderful man to
have as a running mate."
Capanna is proud to have the support of "regular people."
"I'm finding that real people are the biggest supporters, whether
it≠s the woman with a bookshop in one of the rough sections of
my district, or the union worker who is excited that I see unions as
a rich part of the country, or a woman dying of breast cancer who
has no health insurance," she says. "These are people I meet everywhere
I go and who are energizing me and who I am helping
to revitalize me (with the idea) that government can be personal."
Capanna faces especially poor economic conditions in her
area--Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse, particularly after the
closing of many of the area's factories.
"It's traditional manufacturing, a lot of
machine shops," Capanna says. "The reality
is, they're not coming back. ...Unfortunately,
I think many Americans unwittingly support
that ... there seems to be very little concern
about finding something that says, 'Made in
America.'"
The correlation between money and winning office is
ever-present, as is the correlation between physical looks
and winning office and the delicate situation it can mean for
women. Capanna, who won a beauty pageant as a teenager,
says, "Yesterday, I was in touch with a pageant (organizer) to
share with them that I≠m running. She was excited and said,
'Do you see any problem with word being out that you were
in a pageant?'" Capanna had no problem. As she relates, "It's
an important part of my confidence."
Capanna, like Farrell, credits Wheaton with much of her
dedication to politics. "There is no question I would not be
here without the faculty at Wheaton. I think back to what it
must have been like when I showed up, saying 'I'd like to
do this, I'd like to do that.' ...[Professors] David Vogler and
Darlene Boroviak took me so seriously. There really was
something magical about those four years."
The power of wisdom
Both Farrell and Capanna see a generational give and take in
their political work, learning from professors, seasoned politicians,
and other mentors, and then passing their experience
and wisdom to the younger generation.
"Work hard; don't compromise your dreams," is Capanna's
motto. Her political slogan is Restoring Hope for America. "I
came up with it," she says. "The flip side is the underbelly of
despair that people are experiencing."
Farrell treasures a defining moment during her 2004
Connecticut race, when she talked with Democratic Sen.
Joe Lieberman. Lieberman cited a quote to her by the late
Chassidic master, Rabbi Nachman, which Farrell still holds
close: "All the world is a narrow bridge, and we must not be
afraid."
Mary Grauerholz is a freelance writer based on Cape Cod,
Massachusetts.
