It's my trademark response for street-harassing dudes who don't know better—and now the name of a Colorado political action committee. The just-launched Can You Not PAC, run by two white dudes, was founded for the purpose of dissuading white dudes from running for office.
Here's Colorado Public Radio, and not, you know, the Onion:
It's a question embedded in the name of the organization. The Can You Not PAC plans to discourage straight white men from running for office in Colorado's diverse districts. The hope is that will clear the lane from female, minority and LGBTQ candidates.
Democratic activists Jack Teter and Kyle Huelsman registered the organization last month. So far they've raised $120 from six donations.
"It's the counterbalance to the classic intervention where people ask, 'Have you thought about ever running for office?', " says Huelsman. "We want to ask, 'Have you ever thought about not running for office?'"
Obviously this sounds too good to be true, so I checked the Colorado Secretary of State's website, and indeed, Can You Not is a registered political action committee.
It's come to pass: a nightmare for the MRA trolls of the internet; mansplainers of Twitter; "Actually," party of one, scrolling your phone at the bar.
But actually, this is fascinating.
Not because of the paltry sum the group's raised, but because their gambit is something I can't see legit advocacy groups getting away with—or even attempting. In case your tithe goes somewhere other than the Church of Misandry*, political advocacy group EMILY's List, which raises funds to support the candidacy of women Democrats with pro-choice records, recently caught heat for supporting Donna Edwards in a Maryland Senate race, because she was running against a white guy who was also a pro-choice Democrat, Chris Van Hollen.
That's right: An organization whose sole function is to support women Democrats with pro-choice records caught flak for... supporting an African American woman Democrat with a pro-choice record. Even though that is literally the group's mission.
What I'm saying is, Can You Not PAC is jokingly extreme in a way that women's political advocacy groups may not be able to. This is no small thing!
And now, a parable: I holler about something like how rape culture is real or abortion rights are under siege or this movie theater is too damn cold because it's not designed for women with poor circulation—for what seems like a century, into a silent void. Then, a man like Jack Teter or Kyle Huelsman comes along and is like "Rape culture is real! Abortion rights are under attack! My circulation isn't that great either!"
And suddenly people listen.
Discouraging overtly privileged people from running for office may seem like a completely weird premise for a PAC, but it's also kind of genius, since it will surely bend the internet's nuance-free WEIRD THING OF THE DAY blog cycle to its elected official-diversifying whim. And by acting crazy, perhaps it'll make those other, more heavily scrutinized groups look like the reasonable common-sense organizations they are.
And maybe people will be more likely to listen.
In any case, Donald Trump just won the Indiana Republican primary. Perhaps you should consider donating to Can You Not PAC in his honor.
*This is obviously a joke. (OR IS IT)