With the election fast approaching, Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton said women who believe in abortion rights must vote Democratic this Tuesday.
""In Wisconsin the Republicans have veered so far to the right that there is no hope for a pro-choice woman to be a Republican and not be in conflict with her own best interest,"" she said.
Recent ads advocating Gov. Jim Doyle's re-election have claimed if his Republican opponent Mark Green is elected, abortion rights could be limited. Lawton said ads could change female voters' political affiliation if they feel their reproductive rights are at risk.
But Republican secretary of state candidate Sandy Sullivan, famous for her sexcapades with Green Bay Packer players in the 1960s, disagreed with Lawton, calling such generalizations ""ridiculous.""
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, who was the first woman from Wisconsin elected to Congress in 1998, said she believes women need to be better represented.
""We will be healthier as [a] democracy and as a country when 52 percent of the government is women just like 52 percent of the country are women,"" Baldwin said.
However, in today's society, traditional domestic roles can still keep women away from the Capitol, according to UW-Madison political science professor Virginia Sapiro.
""The issue is women are still less likely to become candidates,"" she said. ""There is a difficulty in supporting your family or career.Whether you're wealthy or poor, urban or rural—all these life circumstances shape your views, and being a woman is no different.""
Despite the unique issues that women face, Sullivan emphasized that women belong in politics and that they bring a different skill set to the Capitol.
""If you put a person of greatness in a position they will make that position great,"" she said. ""Women are better planners, engage in less ego-boosting and rooster-crowing and know how to budget money because they have been doing that in their households for centuries.""
