“Women speak softly and carry a big statistic”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) quoted what he said was a West African proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said that women who are candidates for office should “speak softly and carry a big statistic.” The big statistic that they must carry is the women’s vote.
   
“So, as Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who is the dean of the Annenberg School of Communications, says, ‘Women need to speak softly and carry a big statistic’” was cited on the television show CNN Talkback Live on May 16, 2001.
 
     
Wikiquote: Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (27 October 1858 – 6 January 1919), also known as T.R. or Teddy, was the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909).
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I have always been fond of the West African proverb “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
. Letter to Henry L. Sprague (26 January 1900); this is the first known use of this phrase, which became a signature motto of Roosevelt’s after he used it in a speech as Vice-President at the Minnesota State Fair:
. There is a homely adage which runs “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” If the American nation will speak softly and yet build and keep at a pitch of highest training a thoroughly efficient Navy, the Monroe Doctrine will go far. (2 September 1901)
 
Wikipedia: Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Kathleen Hall Jamieson (born 1946) is an American Professor of Communication and the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The Annenberg Public Policy Center runs FactCheck, a nonprofit devoted to examining the factual accuracy of US political campaign advertisements.
 
CNN.com
CNN TALKBACK LIVE
Governor Gives Birth: Motherhood, Pregnancy and Politics
Aired May 16, 2001 - 15:00   ET
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LEE: Again, what we found in this study, is that women are—not only have to be qualified, they also need to show toughness in a way that voters can understand and voters find comfortable. So, as Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who is the dean of the Annenberg School of Communications, says, “Women need to speak softly and carry a big statistic.”
(LAUGHTER)
   
Kathmandu Post
Editorial
Disparities despite empowerment
November 11, 2003
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According to Rep Loretta Sanchez of California, women need to deal with three conceptions about female politicians. “They have to prove that the old stereotypes (about women) don’t apply to them. They have to prove their authority on issues within the male domain, like security. And they have to convey that authority while at the same time projecting warmth.” Or as political communications expert Kathleen Jamieson has put it, “Women politicians must speak softly and carry a big statistic.”
   
UPI
Feature: Women train for governor office
By JULIA WATSON   |  Dec. 3, 2004 at 3:53 PM
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It’s a difficult balancing act. With a twinkle, she quotes Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. “Women need to speak softly and carry a big statistic.”
     
Google Books
Notes from the Cracked Ceiling:
Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman to Win
By Anne E. Kornblut
New York, NY: Crown Publishers
2009
Pg. ?:
“Speak Softly and Carry a Big Statistic”
To understand one formula for getting elected as a woman on rough terrain, it helps to consider the case of Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota.
 
Washington (DC) Post
How to shatter the ‘highest, hardest’ glass ceiling
By Anne E. Kornblut
Sunday, December 27, 2009
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Speak softly and carry a big statistic.
It’s a well-known saying among strategists who have run female candidates for higher office: Speak softly and carry a big statistic.
 
Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who was elected to the Senate from Minnesota in 2006, said she followed not only this advice but also the example of Janet Napolitano, who was then the governor of Arizona. Napolitano, also a Democrat, had won election in Arizona, a Republican stronghold, in part by building up a strong résumé as a prosecutor. Klobuchar decided to do the same. “Our backgrounds were similar, and our states were a lot tougher for Democrats,” Klobuchar said of Napolitano. “What I noticed about her is, she would answer every question. She had specific proposals for things.” Today, Klobuchar is the senior senator from her state, and Napolitano is the secretary of homeland security.
     
Entrepreneur
Book Review: Notes from the Cracked Ceiling by Anne E. Kornblut
DIANE DANIELSON
APRIL 20, 2010
This week’s book review is Notes from the Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman to Win by Anne E. Kornblut.
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Women candidates need to “speak softly and carry a big statistic.” Women need to overcompensate in areas that are deemed to be more male: i.e., the economy, national security, crime, etc. This is true for women in business, too. However, women can’t run solely on professional accomplishments. Examples are Claire McCaskill in her first failed race and, more recently, Coakley in Massachusetts. McCaskill won her second race by painting a more personal portrait of herself. This is a lesson from which Coakley might have benefited.
 
Twitter
Bill Shander
‏@billshander
“Women speak softly and carry a big statistic.” - Amy Klobuchar #IdeasForum
2:14 PM - 14 Nov 2012
     
CBS—Minnesota
Sen. Klobuchar Expects Compromise Over Financial Cliff
November 28, 2012 8:32 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCCO) – Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she expects a compromise to be reached in the U.S. Senate regarding the buzzed-about “financialcliff.”
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“Someone who studied women candidates once said that women candidates — and I don’t quite believe this — ‘speak softly and carry a big statistic,’” Klobuchar said. “I don’t believe they speak softly, as we’ve seen, but they do carry a big statistic.”
 
Twitter
marissa jennings
‏@mjrissa
Speak softly and carry a Big Statistic!  —Senator Amy Klobuchar #NJWomen2014 pic.twitter.com/ofTvExDIPM
8:19 AM - 10 Sep 2014