On the shifting expectations for female candidates today:

"For the first almost two full decades of Emily's List, the '80s, '90s, and even the aughts, we sat down with women who were running and said, 'You’re going to have to prove that you’re qualified to run for the job. You’re going to have to prove to voters that a woman can be a senator.' Because voters just hadn’t seen that. We would talk about looking the part of senator. We have trained generations of women to look that part. But now, there’s a huge shift. The bar is still higher for women, but people want more authenticity, and I think it's different for women and men. We’re trying to increase the number of women of all ages and all demographics and all races in office. Making them all fit into a box is precisely the wrong thing to do right now. What we want is diverse experiences. We want people to have the freedom to do what they’re comfortable with. It's really important."