I very sincerely believe that we need good people within and outside of "the system."

I make no bones at all about the fact that I am a strong believer in the power of community building and grassroots organizing. After all, that's a big part of why I'm here on Steemit!

But I also think that after over 200 years of having a republic and creating laws in this way there need to be people "on the inside" who legitimately listen to their constituents and make decisions based on data and not based on the party line. That's why I am so excited that so many new people are running and that the women who are running (based on what I've seen and read) are developing platforms that are thoughtful, critical of party politics, and seem truly interested in consensus building rather than an us vs. them attitude.

The real reason I think our systems are broken are because they were built on a foundation of compromise and within the last 50-60 years we (okay, men mostly) have decided that compromise is an indication of weakness. If we get past that, and I think women are the people to do it, we have a real possibility of true healing.