It was March 11, 1984, and five Democratic candidates, all of them men, sat on the stage of the Fox Theatre in a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
Women were actually only specifically mentioned once that afternoon when one of the candidates, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, was asked about the so-called “misery index” felt by voters.
“Women are seeking to become empowered,” Jackson said. “Seventy percent of all poor children live in a house headed by a woman. Unless we empower women, then they will be more miserable.”
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