First-time political candidate Kelli Dunaway thought she had a shot at unseating Ann Wagner<\/a>, the conservative Republican Congresswoman from Missouri\u2019s 2nd District. She never really got the chance.<\/p>\n

Dunaway dropped out of the four-way Democratic race in the St. Louis area last month, but she learned some valuable lessons from her attempt. In a recent interview with Occasional Planet, she candidly shared her insights into what she did wrong, how the political system worked against her, and what other female candidates can do to overcome the obstacles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line was that I just couldn\u2019t raise as much money as the other candidates,\u201d she said, noting that in our political system, money raised is the measure of viability for a candidate. \u201cI kept hearing\u2014from potential donors\u2014\u2018You are not raising enough money,\u2019 and \u2018You are not visible enough\u2019\u2014from grassroots supporters. It was a Catch 22.\u201d<\/p>\n

But more important than her fundraising totals are the reasons behind her inability to wring cash from donors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a structural problem,\u201d said Dunaway, a a single mom with two young children. \u201cThe system is set up so that only two kinds of people can successfully run for office: People who are wealthy, or people who are retired. There\u2019s no place for a single mom. I was trying as hard as I could. But I felt anxious and stressed, because I was disappointing everyone. I wasn\u2019t a good Mom, I wasn\u2019t a good employee, and I wasn\u2019t a good candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere just wasn\u2019t enough of a support system for a candidate like me,\u201d she added. \u201cI thought women would get excited about a strong capable woman taking the risk of running. I thought they\u2019d help me more\u2014be surrogates when I couldn\u2019t be at events, give a little more of their time to help when my family responsibilities made being a candidate extra difficult. That didn\u2019t happen enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019ve done this,\u201d she said, \u201cI see that no one benefits from the system as it is. Even if you win, you\u2019re going to spend 20 hours a week on the phone raising money. It\u2019s grueling, and it\u2019s not good for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunaway acknowledges that her opponents worked the system more effectively than she did. \u201cThey lined up donors early. They got endorsements from the Missouri Democratic elite. They made better connections earlier in the process. Maybe if I\u2019d have been doing what they were doing a year before announcing my candidacy, I\u2019d still be in it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dunaway admits to being frustrated by her opponents\u2019 ability to get those \u201cpower elite\u201d endorsements. \u201cIt was unfortunate that women in power didn\u2019t really give me a chance, because I got into the race later, and they had already decided to back my opponent. But I was surprised that they were supporting a 29-year-old male. I got into the race in the first place to help make Congress more reflective of the overall population. Congress is only 20 percent women. I wanted to be part of the change. I thought having a woman in the race this time would give us a shot to put a Democrat in that seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Issues\u2014or, rather, the lack of them\u2014played a role in Dunaway\u2019s truncated campaign, too. An unashamed progressive, Dunaway wanted to talk about guns, reproductive rights and other hot-button topics, so she posted her views on her campaign website. That tactic, she learned, defied conventional wisdom. Other candidates, she learned, just ask for money\u2014they don\u2019t take public stands on issues on their websites.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not just about money. The issues are important to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t listen to establishment advice. We\u2019re at a critical time in our history\u2014we need to talk about these issues. But I learned that you get more money when you do not talk about these things. We are democratically electing a kleptocracy\u2014donors see issues as a distraction. Other candidates keep their views on issues beneath the radar, because that\u2019s what the donors want them to do. It\u2019s sad, but that is the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The solution, said Dunaway, is for more people to care about what is happening. \u201cAs of now, we leave it all to the donor class,\u201d she said. They make the money decisions and that determines who runs. The people who care about issues\u2014like me\u2014are on the outs: we\u2019re the weirdos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunaway says she has learned her lessons the hard way, and she seems resigned to the notion that, to be successful, future women candidates will probably have to play the system according to the current rules of engagement. Will she run again? She\u2019s not sure what\u2019s next for her, other than a general idea about helping to empower women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to help position women to take 50 percent of the seats in Congress\u201450 percent of everything: board rooms, executive suites, all the areas of power,\u201d she says. \u201cThe last thing America needs right now are more privileged, Harvard-educated men.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First-time political candidate Kelli Dunaway thought she had a shot at unseating Ann Wagner, the conservative Republican Congresswoman from Missouri\u2019s 2nd District. She never<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2953,1575,119,16,877],"tags":[2678,229,3081],"yoast_head":"\n