Women’s advocate Betsy Meyers, a leading female voice in the Bill Clinton administration and President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, held a small discussion Thursday in Deady Hall.
Formerly a senior official as the first director of the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach for Clinton, Meyers more recently served as a senior advisor to Obama’s campaign as chief operating officer of Obama for America and chair of Women for Obama. Sponsored by a number of university and
local women’s groups, Meyers’ discussion focused on her help during the Obama campaign in highlighting women’s issues and bringing them to the forefront of legislative priority.
With a 15-plus year history of working in Washington, D.C., Meyers’ work with the Clinton administration brought attention to women’s issues through her White House office from 1995-97. She made certain domestic violence, abortion rights, breast cancer and women in the business sector would remain on the political agenda. Working for the Obama campaign, she fought to push previous Hillary Clinton supporters to vote for Obama, and based the campaign on a “buttoned-up” business style of efficiency, she said.
“When I first came to the Obama campaign in 2007, he had less than a 10-percent name ID. We knew it would be long shot, but the thing that attracted me was his embodiment of a new generation of leadership,” Meyers said. “We ran with a business-oriented mindset with a leader who was willing to listen, collaborate and present an authentic self. And also importantly, he was a feminist who brought women’s issues to the table.”
Deciding to support Obama over now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a tough decision for Meyers who had worked so closely with the Clinton family during her tenure in the White House. But ultimately, her belief that Obama would be a more apt leader who could bring a bigger difference caused her shift toward supporting Obama, she said.
“It was a principle decision,” Meyers said. “I have such great respect for Hillary, but a president is only as good as the legislation that gets passed, and I felt that Obama could better achieve the work needed to be done.”
Meyers also expressed her enthusiasm for the progressive steps toward women’s issues that she said had been abandoned during the Bush administration.
“Bush changed everything. During his time in office, promoting women’s issues was ousted by creating democracy. Our women’s offices moved from a staff of 25 people to eight,” Meyers said.
“But now, it’s a totally new day. New efforts will be made to address women and he’ll deal with our expectations while at the same time, make progress. “
Cynthia Pappas, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, helped bring Meyers to the University.
“We wanted to invite her because during the Obama campaign, she had such an incredible impact on women’s issues and we felt it important to connect her to the university,” Pappas said. “It’s important to bring someone who can shed light on what’s happening in health care reform.”
Chemistry graduate student Noel Gunning said Meyers pointed out some very real women’s issues that the Obama administration faced.
“Meyers made a good point that Obama is a feminist and very androgynous in his approach,” said Gunning. “She also pointed out importantly, the business model of the campaign that helped to secure his win.”
Meyers said her work towards promoting women’s issues and ensuring legislative action affecting reproductive rights, health care and women in the workforce will continue with the Obama administration as she persists in confronting sexism and gender issues.
“We still have a long way to go,” Meyers said. “But with Obama, he fundamentally believes men and women are equal. And that kind of leadership will bring a difference to the world.”
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