Kellyanne Conway just became the most influential woman in Washington and no one is talking about it.

And it’s probably because she is a Republican. No, it's most certainly because she is a Republican.

Conway was the first woman in history to successfully manage and win a presidential campaign in America. She was promoted from Trump’s senior advisor and pollster to campaign manager, and successfully did what no one believed was possible.

And when it became clear that Hillary Clinton’s defeat was imminent, the overwhelming media response was that America had missed its opportunity to elect its first female president.

And with that, Democrats didn’t shatter the glass ceiling. But the one woman who did make history that night has less name recognition than a third-string quarterback at a high school you didn’t even attend.

Conway is a lawyer, a successful business owner, a mother of four.

A woman who rose to the top and ran a political campaign in a party that the left has labelled as misogynistic be a household name and an idol to young women striving for gender equality but she is not. Not even close.

That is because feminism has become a brand of the left wing and Kellyanne Conway is not part of that brand.

If you don’t subscribe to a certain set of ideas you're not allowed to participate in the fight for gender equality or equal pay.

You are not allowed to participate in condemning sexual violence against women.

You are no allowed to call yourself a feminist.

And tearing down women who believe something other than what you believe is somehow OK.

It is never okay.

Many women voted for Trump and for conservatives in every election in recent history.

It’s not because they hate women.

It’s not because they support rape culture.

It's because they agree with conservatives on jobs, on taxes and on the very fact that their country was not the place in which they wanted to raise their young sons and daughters.

None of these affect their views on women’s rights, on equal pay or on gender equality.

Conservatives who are also feminists have been silenced by the left.

They have been excluded. And for that the movement has suffered.

Kellyanne Conway has exposed the hypocrisy of a crusade more concerned with political ideology than with supporting strong women in positions of influence.

And if that wasn’t true, everyone would know who she is and what she has accomplished.

There should be nothing partisan about feminism; it's about women having equal power and influence.

The Kellyanne Conways of the world should always be lifted up, and not torn down by a movement who needs more voices, not fewer.

--Melissa Lantsman was a senior political advisor to the previous Conservative government. She currently lives, works and casually observes politics in Toronto