Nancy Nelson: A Campaign Journey I think the important difference is in the perspective that women bring to any issue. -- Nancy Nelson Common Sense asked Nancy Nelson a whole host of questions about her run in 2001 for an At Large City Council position, including ``In your opinion, do women have a more difficult challenge in running for political office than do men?'' Here is her reply: Nancy: ``I suspect that running for City Council, or other political office, is difficult for nearly everyone. It takes a great deal of time and energy. Most people’s lives are completely filled with working full-time, raising a family, taking care of a house, and enjoying whatever activities they consider ``fun.'' Something has to be sacrificed in order to serve in a public office -- especially one like the Duluth City Council that is essentially a volunteer position. The choice of what gets sacrificed is different for everyone. As a single person, I do not have a family to take care of, which might make things easier. But at the same time, I do not have anyone else to help out with the everyday chores like laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, and cooking meals. When I was campaigning for City Council, I found it very difficult to find the time or energy to do any of these things. I was very grateful to the friends who fed me or dropped off food at my door. Campaigning was difficult for me, but I think this is more a matter of personality than gender. For example, as a scientist, I have been trained not to speculate on things that I don’t know much about. Scientists like to have data and evidence to support what they say. But as a candidate, I was expected to have an opinion on every issue, whether or not I’d had time to learn about it. I also found it very difficult to call people on the phone and almost impossible to go ``door-knocking'' because I felt that I was intruding on other people’s privacy; I have heard other candidates -- both women and men -- say the same thing. Another challenge of politics is that you open yourself to public criticism. When I campaigned, I did not experience much hostility from people who disagreed with me, but I did experience enough to know that it is difficult to deal with. Most people who disagreed with my opinions simply said ``no thanks'' when I offered them literature or the chance to talk. But a few people accused me of being dangerous for the future of Duluth -- a terrible person who would destroy the whole city. And one group deliberately provided untrue and misleading information to the Chamber of Commerce for a question that was asked during the candidate forum. It is easy for the few bad experiences to overshadow the many good experiences. A politician must have the confidence and courage to stand up for what she believes, despite public criticism. The only issues that I see primarily as ``women’s issues'' are the ones related to reproductive freedom. Men can sympathize with these issues, but I don’t see how they can truly understand them. For the most part, I believe that everyone is affected by the ``issues'' -- things like living wages, access to health care, good schools, transportation, housing, and creating a city that people enjoy living in. I think the important difference is in the perspective that women bring to any issue. The key to making good decisions as a society is to hear from a wide variety of viewpoints; this includes women, men, elders, rich, poor, business people, environmentalists, scientists, and so on. Although campaigning for City Council was a lot of work, it was satisfying to know that instead of just complaining about what is wrong, I was doing my part to try to make things better.'' These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.

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