Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin on International Women’s Day with The Maggie Daun Show

“It is not a spectator sport.” These are the empowering words from Senator Tammy Baldwin during her conversation with Maggie Daun, host of The Maggie Daun Show, appropriately taking place on International Women’s Day.

We shouldn’t have to leave our life experiences at the door. I believe your experience informs how you live, and for me, it’s how I vote. Every experience is valuable and if you are in the room, in the conversation, you can make a difference. Know your power.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

Senator Baldwin continues a remarkable journey as a woman in politics, and believes “we, the people,” have to be involved. “Women need to be part of these conversations and decisions,” Baldwin says. “Why should a woman ever feel they have to leave their life experiences at the door?”

Daun asks what it’s like to be a woman in politics right now, and a person who’s served at every level of government.

“I found huge value in starting at the local level,” Baldwin says. “You are knocking on doors, talking to people, getting to know everyone in your neighborhood. This is the way I learned how important it is to know you are truly representing your constituents. Now, you may lose a little of this when you are voted in as a congressman where I represented more than 700,000 people. But I still believe you can listen to others; the residents in the area you are serving, and your colleagues to be able to advance policies to help those people.”

Baldwin goes on to explain her interest in running for office happened right after the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas for Supreme Court, and how during the hearings to approve him, Anita Hill came forward to say she’d been sexually harassed on the job by Thomas. Yet, the panel was made up of all men who just didn’t seem to understand what Hill had faced.

“Many women became interested in running for office at this time, and reporters would often ask me, is this the year of the woman in politics?” Baldwin explains. “I was also asked about my political agenda for women or for LGBTQ. My agenda has always focused on health care, and discrimination, but it was interesting to have so many people ask if my agenda was specific to women.”

“Speaking of health care,” Daun says. “You continue to fight for your constituents and the effort to get the prices down on prescription drugs.”

“This comes from a personal experience,” Baldwin says. “I had a childhood illness and was raised by my grandparents. But when I landed in the hospital, their insurance did not cover me. So I worked to support the Affordable Care Act, and to keep young adults on their parents insurance until they turn 26. And we recently passed a bill to require Medicare to negotiate with big pharma to get the prices down. Right now, I’m disappointed we’re only able to focus on ten prescriptions. But we have to start somewhere. We pay more than any other country, so negotiating is a first big step.”

The discussion moves on to focus on access to health care, with Baldwin calling it a human right.

“I think we all think of America as a place where we advance rights and freedoms,” Baldwin says. “It’s a shock to watch us go backwards to a place where women today have less rights than our grandmothers.”

“You have inspired so many,” Daun says. “What do you say to women of all ages if they are interested in getting involved in politics?”

“Women need to be part of the conversations and decisions,” Baldwin says. “We shouldn’t have to leave our life experiences at the door. I believe your experience informs how you live, and for me, it’s how I vote. Every experience is valuable and if you are in the room, in the conversation, you can make a difference. Know your power.”

You can watch the full conversation here: