The Rankin Standard

1. Money—aka the Hunger Games of Politics

Right now, running for Congress means selling your soul to fundraising. Candidates spend half their lives dialing for dollars just to survive the next cycle. That’s why too many lawmakers toe the party line instead of taking Rankin-style stands—they literally can’t afford to piss off their donors.
Fix: Publicly financed campaigns and stricter limits on dark money. Let politicians serve people, not PACs.

2. Representation Quotas—Yeah, Needed to Be Said

Other countries aren’t shy about it: gender quotas work. Rwanda has more women in parliament than men. Meanwhile, America still struts around like “We’ll get there eventually.” Honey, it’s been over 100 years since Rankin, and women are still barely a quarter of Congress. "Eventually" is a damn joke.

Fix: Push for party-level or state-level quotas so women and especially women of color actually get a fair shot.

3. Killing the Incumbency Trap

Incumbents in Congress are basically political squatters: once they’re in, they camp out for decades, many times until death. New voices—especially women—rarely break through. Jeannette Rankin had to bulldoze that wall in 1916 America. Today, a large fraction of the feminine quarter percentage are coddled within the safety net of a permanent job.

Fix: Term limits, baby. Fresh blood, new energy, higher standards.

4. Changing the Culture of “Playing Nice”

Rankin wasn’t afraid to look the whole country in the eye and say no to war. Nowadays? Too many women in Congress are told to “smile more,” “tone it down,” or “don’t ruffle feathers.” And too often, they listen.

Fix: Voters need to reward backbone over blandness. Stop electing the safe option. Start electing the one who scares the status quo.

5. Media Accountability

The press still treats female politicians like fashion dolls or walking scandals. Remember how Rankin was once mocked for her “shrill voice”? That garbage is alive and well. How do you expect more Rankins to rise when the media nitpicks their outfits instead of their policies?

Fix: Call out sexist coverage. Share substance over gossip. Don’t feed the circus.

The Sassy Bottom Line

Until we fix the money, the rules, and the culture, most members of Congress—male or female—will keep serving lukewarm tea when we deserve the fire Rankin brewed a century ago. Standards didn’t just drop; they got buried under bureaucracy, donor checks, and political timidity with this cancel-culture nonsense.

So here’s the challenge: don’t just clap for “representation”—demand Rankin-level guts. Demand leaders who’d rather stand alone in history than blend into mediocrity today. That’s how you honor Jeannette Rankin’s legacy—and drag Congress kicking and screaming back up to standard.

Let’s get this straight: when Jeannette Rankin walked into Congress in 1917, she wasn’t just making history—she was rewriting the rules of American politics. The first woman ever elected to Congress, she took her seat before women even had the right to vote nationwide, and then dared to stand alone—she literally voted no against war. Not once, but twice. In 1917, she opposed U.S. entry into World War I. Then again in 1941, after Pearl Harbor, she was the only member of Congress—435 Representatives, 82 Senators, and just one woman in the chamber—to say no to declaring war on Japan.

Now, depending on how you look at it, that was either the ultimate badge of principle or a downright silly outlook on life. Because let’s be real: when you’re attacked, you don’t sit back and hope peace magically wins—you crack the whip. Being formidable is what keeps enemies from testing you in the first place. Better yet? Be the aggressor, because why wait to be hit before swinging back?

That, right there, is where Rankin and BoujeeBurke differ in opinion. She believed peace was always the higher road—even when bombs were falling and lives were already lost. Admirable? I guess. Practical? Not so much. To me, that was her downfall. But don’t get it twisted: outside of her pacifist blind spot, Rankin was still extraordinary. She was a woman who set a bar so high that today’s political darlings can’t even see it with a telescope. Rankin's stance was understandable as she was once quoted as saying, "As a woman, I can't go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else". She had guts the size of Montana but was that 'morale' or jealousy derived from a womans inability to partake in combat at the time? Hmph.

In any event, let's line her up next to today’s so-called icons—Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar. Sure, they’ve made headlines, but let’s be real: they play politics like it’s a career ladder, not a battlefield of principle. Pelosi clings to inflated power and obvious insider trading. (a practice that's become the norm for politicians since the new millennium) Harris made history as VP but struggles to define her own legacy outside of standing next to a male counterpart. AOC built a brand louder than her mouth and cockamamie legislative record. And Omar is more famous for her controversies than her contributions.

Compared to Rankin, these women aren’t trailblazers—they’re tourists. Dust in her shadow. None of them have ever stood alone against the tide, risking everything for principle the way Rankin did. They talk representation, she lived it. And having come from good stock, Rankin wasn't in it for the payday. The fact that she set that standard over a century ago should make us ask: What the hell happened to the bar?