It took us 200 years to elect the first Democratic woman to the Senate in her own right, and that's Barbara Mikulski. Six years later, we had a grand slam: We elected four new Democratic women to the Senate. Sen. Mikulski now has some company.

I think having Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House is going to send a very wonderful lesson to the American public that women can be strong, they can be tough, they can be effective, and they can lead this country as political leaders.

At EMILY's List, we’re in the business of expanding the political power of women.

This nation is really ready for a woman president. It's taken time, but we're ready.

Women are tough campaigners. They certainly know how to withstand attacks. And I think we make a mistake if we say, as some do, that women should play by different rules, or that they are somehow especially vulnerable to the rules of politics. I don't think that's true.

I was encouraged that a group of women wanted to start WISH List, which works like EMILY's List, only it supports pro-choice Republican women. It was started by one of our members, and I was happy to tell her how we did it and encourage her.

Having women in office is vital to the health of our democracy because women play a unique role in our society. By and large, women are still the primary caregivers in families, even as we have taken our place in the workforce.