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  • 5 weeks ago
Women are the majority of voters in the country. So why haven’t the presidential candidates spent more time talking about the issues that affect us — like equal pay, the rollback of women’s reproductive rights, and sexual assault and violence?

Refinery29 teamed up with Supermajority, a new home for women’s activism, to ask them to do just that. Ahead of Super Tuesday, during which more than a third of all delegates will be allocated, Supermajority co-founder Cecile Richards sat down with each of the top six candidates and asked them questions about their records and plans for improving women’s lives — plus some fun questions to get to know them a bit better. Learn more about the candidate here https://mikebloomberg.com/

YOU have the power to make change - Learn more about important 2020 election dates here: https://r29.co/2I1goga
Click here to register to vote: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote#item-213833

ABOUT REFINERY29
Refinery29 is a female-focused lifestyle destination bringing its audience regularly programmed inspiration to live a well-rounded life! Our channel is dedicated to delivering the latest in topics from cult beauty and trending fashion to social experiments and docu-style story-telling on a global level. There is no territory that we are afraid to pioneer.

ABOUT SUPERMAJORITY
Supermajority is a women’s equality organization made up of women of all backgrounds, races and ages who are coming together to create a future where we are truly equal. Supermajority is connecting women with each other, and building on our collective power by providing the information, training and resources to take action in our neighborhoods, our workplaces and in the voting booth.
Learn more about Supermajority here: https://supermajority.com/about-us/
Want to get involved? Sign up to become a Supermajority member here: https://act.supermajority.com/page/s/founding-members/?UTM_source=youtube

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Transcript
00:00You want people to be able to have the opportunity to serve, but also to have the people we serve
00:05look and say, that government is going to understand me.
00:16Welcome, Mayor.
00:17Thank you, thank you, thank you.
00:18Good to see you again.
00:18We're going to start with one question that we're asking every single candidate.
00:22Let's fast forward.
00:23You've been elected president of the United States of America.
00:26What are the three things that women can expect you to do and hold you accountable for?
00:30One thing, trying to codify Roe v. Wade into law so it can't be taken away by somebody else.
00:37I think that's the most important thing that we can focus on.
00:40Two, legislation, I think, that has a requirement that you should pay men and women equal.
00:45And then, making sure that in my government there are 50% women.
00:50If 50% of the country is female, I think 50% of the government should be female.
00:57We have a lot of first-time voters out there watching.
00:59So, what would you tell to your 18-year-old self?
01:02Vote and pick the person that, based on their experiences of what they've done in the past,
01:09you're convinced they will deliver in the future.
01:12If you could have dinner with any living woman who inspires you, who would that be and why?
01:16Bette Midler.
01:18She's a great entertainer, but also she is a great American.
01:21And one of the things she convinced us to do was to plant a million trees in New York City.
01:26And she went out and raised the money.
01:29She's the complete package.
01:30Sexual assault and violence is widespread in this country.
01:33So, what would you do as president to address this crisis?
01:37Well, sadly, you're right.
01:39And we should have no tolerance for it.
01:41We have to have laws on the books.
01:44And unfortunately, we have a lot of those laws.
01:46They're just not enforced.
01:48There are parts of this country where they defund every social program.
01:51Parts of this country where they try to make sure that you can't enforce any non-discrimination laws.
01:57We've had discrimination based on gender, based on orientation, based on ethnicity, based on age.
02:03That's why it's so important when you vote.
02:06What's your guilty pleasure?
02:07Cheez-Its, I think.
02:09Cheez-Its?
02:10Yeah, I love Cheez-Its.
02:11Wow. It's all revealed right here.
02:13Probably not great for your waistline, but I'm a Cheez-Its fan.
02:16If I had to pick a sandwich, it'd be a Subway sandwich.
02:19How does your identity shape your presidential campaign?
02:22The things that really are important to me, my children, both the girls, turned out to be great.
02:27Took care of my mother when she was alive.
02:29She died at 102, and I called her every single day.
02:34I still reach my pocket occasionally for the phone, and she's not there,
02:37but she is still on the answering machine.
02:39Is that right?
02:39Yes.
02:40Yeah, no, same with me.
02:42What's your favorite constitutional amendment, and why?
02:46Probably the 14th, because it corrected a lot of things that were wrong,
02:51whether it had to do with women, whether it had to do with slavery.
02:54It was a bill that fixed a lot of things.
02:57What is your top priority for furthering women's reproductive rights if you're elected president?
03:02Number one, you have to guarantee the rights.
03:04So that's Roe v. Wade and any other discriminatory laws.
03:08Number two, making sure that everybody can get medical care.
03:12So women in the U.S. make overall 82 cents on the dollar to white men,
03:17but of course it's much, much worse for black women, for Native American women, for Latino women.
03:23So what would you do as president to address equal pay in the United States of America?
03:28I think it's two things.
03:29It's equal pay for the same job with the same longevity.
03:34But the other thing that is more important, or as important,
03:37is giving the opportunity for women to move up.
03:40Because as you move up in the chain, the compensation is higher.
03:44So saying we pay the same for men and women is one thing, and it's good, but it's certainly not
03:50adequate.
03:51You have to make sure that people can move up into more responsible roles where the compensation is greater.
03:57An issue that comes up everywhere, but not on the debate stage,
04:00is the lack of affordable child care in this country and the lack of any paid family leave.
04:05So what would you do as president to address these critical issues?
04:07I think you judge somebody not by how they answer a question like that,
04:13but what they did when they faced the situation.
04:17At my company, we give 26 weeks of paid leave.
04:21I understand companies are there to have a business,
04:24and they have to have their employees dependably show up and be trained and do all the work.
04:29But you also have to have some understanding that people have a private life,
04:34and every once in a while need a little bit of flexibility.
04:39And it's good for the business because you'll have an employee who will stay around and contribute more.
04:44Right.
04:46For all the women watching, what would you tell them?
04:49Why they should pick you to be president of the United States?
04:51First, I would say you have to vote.
04:54You can't complain if you didn't vote.
04:56And when people say, oh, my vote doesn't matter, that's not true.
05:00Second thing is think about who you're voting for.
05:02It's easy to talk.
05:04It's hard to do things.
05:05And I personally would want somebody who can look me in the eye and say,
05:10I faced this situation.
05:12It was tough to make a decision and people were pushing me all over the place.
05:16But it was the right decision.
05:18And I had the courage to do that.
05:19And I think that's what really makes everything.
05:22Women are the majority of voters in this country.
05:24We have the ability to determine the future.
05:26So the most important thing you can do is go vote.
05:33We have a few people.
05:33Thank you to the participants.
05:33I have to see you tonight.
05:33Let's see you tonight.
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