Election Watch
On a Tough Election Day, a Sweet Story
Today, amidst the myriad reminders to vote (I voted early, folks, but unfortunately I’m not allowed to vote that often) and the barrage of articles, op eds, and talking heads predicting election outcomes and what it all means–I received an e-mail with this story. It’s touching reminder, in the midst of all those pontifications, that real women’s lives are affected by our votes:
Read MoreIt was 30 yrs ago today, I officially became a WOMAN… yes, on Election Day, 11/2/1980!
From the marbled bathroom of South Jr. High I learned that my life was going to be very different from that point forward… no longer a child but a woman with the ability to give life to another human being, quite an occasion indeed…
I spent years & years celebrating “NO BABY MONTHS” as well as shedding tears over losses that only a woman can truly understand. So while I may bitch and moan about a monthly reminder of my gender – I’ve come a long way, baby!!
What’s very ironic about this, I’m celebrating in kind today… so, think I may have some chocolate cake and do it up right!! đ
Is This Election Day Good for Women or Bad for Women?
OK, so this is a little blatant self-promotion, because I’m very honored to have been quoted extensively by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Connie Schultz in her column “On Balance, Progress for Women” today.
Connie called me Sunday evening fretting about the Gawker kerfluffle about Christine O’Donell’s sexual and shaving practices. Personally, I said, I’ve declined to write or talk about it because I don’t want to make either Gawker or O’Donnell more important than they are.
So we quickly moved on to how this election day will reflect upon women in politics and impact progressive women’s agenda priorities. Here’s our conversation as she reported it, quite accurately:
Read More“Gloria,” I said. “Gloria, Gloria.”
Patiently, she waited for a verb.
“What do we make of this sexist coverage of women? Why does it persist — even from supposedly liberal guys? How do we change this?”
I could hear Feldt take a deep breath.
Dear Ohio, Why Jennifer Brunner Should Be Your Next Senator
This past week, I learned more about Ohio politics than I ever wanted to know, in particular next Tuesday’s (May 4) Democratic primary contest between Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher. The winner will go up against Republican Rob Portman in the November general election.
I suggest you read Kelley Bell’s Huffington Post column to get more facts and colorful descriptions of the intra-party machinations than I have bandwidth to recount here.
My involvement has been only peripheral. I happened to jump into a Facebook conversation begun by one of my favorite columnists, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Connie Schultz, in which she bemoaned acrimony between women about the question of when (if ever) it’s incumbent on us to support our sisters who are running for office.
Read MoreWho Should Be In Obama’s Cabinet?
I want to share in this fascinating discussion I participated in yesterday on GRITtv hosted by Laura Flanders. We covered Barack Obamaâs selection of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff and talked about who we’d like to see fill the rest of Obamaâs cabinet. Alexis McGill Executive Director of Citizen Change, Dan Gerstein former Senior…
Read MoreThe Tide in the Affairs of Election 2008
Pundits make their living trying to tell us why politics happens as it does. They are always arguing about what the one driving factor was in a given election. Well, take it from someone who has worked in campaigns from the lowliest grass roots to the highest halls of power–not a one of them looks…
Read MoreCome to the Party of the Future
Ralph Waldo Emerson had great sayings about almost everything, but this one describes the 2008 elections as well as any political pundit has done in almost two years worth of blathering: There are always two parties, the party of the past and the party of the Future; the Establishment and the Movement… This principle is…
Read MoreWill the Long National Nightmare Be Over?
I early-voted in Arizona a couple of weeks ago. It was almost like praying. I spent a long time on the ballot, which was quite extensive–in Arizona as in many Western states there’s always a raft of ballot initiatives to consider, and judges though appointed initially must be retained in office by a vote of…
Read MoreDoes Palin Trump Biden?
I had intended to blog throughout the Democratic Convention. But there came a moment when I just wanted to be a spectator. Partly this was motivated by the fact that my husband Alex and I were simultaneously shopping for (and finally picking) a new apartment, an endeavor that diverts one’s attention considerably.
So I took a couple of days off from writing just to soak up the historic events. I especially enjoy lavishing myself with the rich sounds and sights of major speakers’ rhetoric, turning every nuance of what was said or not said around in my mind and analyzing their delivery. 
Last night, Alex and I went to watch Obama’s speech with a group of friends who were all charged up and ready to go out and work for him. Dawn, a young woman who’d attended the first few days of the convention, had brought hats and placards, and the flags we frequently waved to signal our approval of some speaker’s point, were provided by the host, Loretta, along with all-American Chinese food and ice cream sandwiches for sustenance.
That afternoon, a wave of sadness had washed over me unexpectedly. Yep, I thought I’d gotten over the fact that the Democratic nominee wouldn’t be a woman, and that not even the vice presidential candidate would be a woman. For so long, I thought sure….
Read MoreNO WAY, NO HOW, NO McCAIN: HILLARY, THE DESIGNATED ADULT
Her orange pantsuit might be a Glamour magazine âdonâtâ, but like every word Hillary spoke last night during her moment at the Democratic National Convention, it was so right, so Hillary.
Her once-ridiculed pantsuit is part of the Hillary brand now, like Barry Goldwaterâs thick-rimmed black glasses, Winston Churchillâs smelly cigars, Joe Bidenâs train tickets.
Standing sharp against the cobalt blue DNC backdrop in the organgest pantsuit I ever saw, Clinton paid tribute to her âsisterhood of the traveling pantsuitsâ. It was a moment of feminist humor and a nod to the fact that she was today truly, completely, and finally ceding the Democratic nomination to her former chief rival, Barack Obama.
Read MoreIN WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY SPEECH, HILLARY WILL LOOK WITH LONG EYES
All eyes will be on Hillary Clinton when she speaks tonight at the Democratic National Convention.
Media pundits and McCain loyalists will be parsing her every word, scrutinizing her every nuance, analyzing every element of her body language for quite a different reason. They love a political food fight. Theyâll pounce on any whiff of tepidness, real or imagined, in her support for Barack Obamaâs presidential candidacy. The Republicans have even set up a âHappy Hour for Hillaryâ, lying in wait to whip up animosity toward Obama, whether their spin is real, or if all else fails, conjured up by their Rovian attack dogs.
But while talking heads will strain to see any shred of conflict between the Democratic nominee-to-be and the second-runner, some of us will be looking at the occasion with what the Tohono OâOdham people call âlong eyesâ.
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