It's an hour and a half flight from Chicago to DC, so why did it take 12 hours to get home? Weather. Yikes!It was beautiful in Chicago this morning. As I waited for a cab I had a chance to say a few last minute good-byes to some of the other BlogHer women in the lobby. It was a last minute decision to attend this conference, and I'm so glad that I did.
I'm not sure how many people attended the conference, but it was in the hundreds. What did surprise me was the make up of the group. I will admit to my bias, and as a progressive I just assumed most of the women attending were progressives, too. That wasn't the case.
As it turns out, according to co-founder Lisa Stone the BlogHer community is almost evenly divided between women who identify as liberal and women who identify as conservative. The difference was evident at some of the workshops I attended.
I found myself in discussions with some of the women over "political" versus "partisan." Some of the more conservative women didn't want to frame the discussions taking place as "political" -- even though almost all the workshops I attended were part of the political track. I am someone who believes everything is political, and anyone who knows me can attest that I'm not shy about stating it. But, just because something is "political" that doesn't mean the solution has to be "partisan."
Anyone who is a regular reader of Yikes will know that I am critical of both Democrats and Republicans. In certain areas you can hardly tell them apart. In other areas there is a vast difference, which is why I tend to vote for Democrats.
If liberal and conservative women could agree on a particular course of action for an issue, like health care for example, what a powerful force we could be! How much faster would change occur if both sides of the aisle were hearing the same message from their constituents?
Is this possible? Let me know what you think?
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