Nancy Pelosi

The old saying is that the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that changes the world. As I watched Nancy Pelosi being elected the Speaker of the House on Tuesday, that phrase came to mind again and again. She was holding her infant grandchild and was surrounded by even more children. It was the perfect picture of why we need to elect more women to Congress.

In 1984, when I was 16 years old, I watched Geraldine Ferraro accept the Democratic nomination to be the Vice President. At the time, I never dreamed that I would be 39 years old before a woman became the Speaker of the House. With my own 6 year old son by my side, I watched Pelosi give her acceptance speech surrounded by her grandchildren, little boys and little girls who have learned early on that women can do anything.

Between women like Nancy Pelosi and children coming of age in a time of powerful independent women, I think that our prospects in the next twenty years are looking good. It would seem that the hand that rocks the cradle is changing the world.