Mr. Smith of the Kennedys,
I Have a Legacy, Too

I have a legacy. I may not be from a prominent political family and I do not have a public platform to stand upon, but my legacy is important.  It is the legacy of the women who helped build our nation.

I understand that Mr. Stephen Smith, nephew of Senator Ted Kennedy, is not supporting Attorney General Martha Coakley for Senate. Coakley is running for a historic seat – the seat of Senator in the great liberal state of Massachusetts that has never been held by a woman. Smith is supporting one of her challengers, Michael Capuano and said

I’m supporting him because I think he’s the person in the race who’s most  like my Uncle Ted.

It is hard for me to understand supporting a candidate because they remind me of a family member – I don’t use that reasoning when I vote. But , if I think hard enough I can see what Mr. Smith is feeling and I don’t begrudge him his emotion. You see, I can see qualities in Martha Coakley that remind me of the women in my family; strength, compassion, ambition and fighting for the safety of children, to name a few.

This race is important to me because of the women and girls of our nation. I can feel the feelings of every girl and woman I know who spent her life looking at men in leadership positions. I know what it feels like to be underrepresented in our government and pay the same amount of taxes as the man living next door to me. Most importantly I know what it feels like to have the word “ambition“ used negatively towards me and positively towards a man.  Ambition is what every candidate needs to win a political race.

Stephen Smith wants Rep. Michael Capuano to be elected to his uncle’s seat.  Moreover, former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II wants his son to be elected to Michael Capuano’s congressional seat. I understand these feelings. I want my cousin to be my congressman and my aunt to be my senator and my sister to be a Supreme Court Justice. However, my personal wishes don’t create reality for an elected office.

As a woman taxpayer and voter who is represented in my senate at a paltry 17% I am voting for the candidate who is most like the women in my life.

Interestingly, I remember feeling pride when I heard Senator Ted Kennedy give respect to our legacy as women at the 1980 Democratic convention.  He said that we are recognizing

… at long last that our nation was made up of founding mothers as well as founding fathers.

The founding mothers of the United States of America are my legacy and I will honor them. I am fighting for Martha Coakley to be the first woman senator of Massachusetts.