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.

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

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.

Between 1972 and 1987, the number of Democratic women in the House had actually gone down, from 14 to 12. EMILY's list started doing House races in 1988.

EMILY's List members are deeply committed to electing pro-choice Democratic women whom we trust to stand up for our rights, treat us honestly, and make us proud. Our candidates fight for us every day. Blanche Lincoln failed to hold up her end of the bargain.

If George W. Bush is the kind of person folks might like to have a beer with, John McCain is the guy you pray you don't get seated next to at a dinner party.

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.