Week of June 23, 2008
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It's the dog days of summer, and things are really heating up out in the field! Our opponents are emptying their deep pockets directly into their campaign accounts. Conservative third-party groups are up on the air -- and our progressive women candidates are fighting back. Let's get right to all the exciting news from our campaigns across the country. And Donna Makes 71Last Tuesday we saw yet another barrier broken as EMILY's List candidate Donna Edwards won her special election to become the first African American woman to represent Maryland in Congress! Edwards was then sworn in last Thursday -- which she noted was Juneteenth, the annual celebration of the emancipation of African Americans -- becoming the 71st woman EMILY’s List has helped elect to the U.S. House. Her new Maryland colleague, Minority Leader Steny Hoyer, said "our delegation will be stronger, better and more representative" with Rep. Edwards. We couldn't agree more. |
 McCain is trying to win over women voters with his "maverick" rhetoric and security mantras -- even sending out surrogate Carly Fiorina, the ousted CEO of Hewlett-Packard, to woo Clinton supporters in particular. "Mac" and Carly are smooth talkers, but numbers don’t lie. Click here to see the real John McCain -- the record, not the rhetoric -- and forward to your friends. |
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Rocky Mountain (All-time) High As we've been reporting here, one of Joan Fitz-Gerald's opponents in Colorado's 2nd congressional district has dumped almost $4 million of his own money into the race -- more than any other candidate in Colorado's history. We knew it was only a matter of time before he started spending it on television, and sure enough, he has spent over $1.3 million on TV spots on local stations across the district in the past month. He has single-handedly made this race one of the most expensive races in the country this cycle -- and we're not even out of the primary yet. They're Up on the Air with the Greatest of Sleaze Americans for Job Security (AJS) -- the sham big-business front group that Public Citizen calls "Corporations Influencing Elections" -- has begun a radio campaign against Jeanne Shaheen, who's challenging New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu. AJS, which has in past elections spent hundreds of thousands attacking Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Maria Cantwell, has said the spot is part of a "statewide saturation buy" and will continue for "the next several weeks."  Not to be outdone by his right-wing big-business allies, Sen. Sununu appeared with President Bush at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser that is expected to raise nearly $20 million for GOP House and Senate candidates. Breaking News: Shaheen, who will not let a single attack go unanswered, just went on the air with a hard-charging response. Her ad cites Sununu's votes to protect conservative special interests like Big Oil and Shaheen's own record on cutting spending and balancing the state budget, as well as her plans to help middle-class families when elected. Just a Preview of Coming Attack-tions Americans for Job Security’s gigantic radio buy is only a preview of the right-wing third-party attacks that will flood the airwaves in the coming months. It's also a reminder that our WOMEN VOTE! program is more critical than ever to progressive Democrats up and down the ticket. Click here to make a contribution to EMILY's List and ensure we have the resources to fund programs like WOMEN VOTE! No Sexism in the Media? 5,000 of You Beg to Differ Many thanks to the thousands of you who signed our letter calling on news execs to put an end to the rank sexism in their reporting. When Keith Olbermann takes pot shots at Katie Couric and Fox calls Michelle Obama Barack's "baby mama" in a caption, it's clear that we are far from bringing this chapter to a close -- especially when the perpetrators, as reported in The New York Times, deny there was any sexism in the coverage of the presidential primary campaign! Because of your overwhelming response on this issue, we've extended our deadline to Friday, June 27. We've already delivered a letter containing more than 5,000 signatures to all of the major news executives. Now we need to keep up the pressure and make sure our message penetrates by delivering an even stronger statement that sexism and misogyny in the media are unacceptable and will not be tolerated! Click here to go to our letter -- and to forward it to your friends. Tell the news media that we demand a higher level of discourse in this campaign.  Asked and AnsweredA couple of weeks ago we offered you an opportunity to ask our terrific candidates your most burning questions -- about their various paths to politics, about their experiences on the campaign trail, even about their favorite books and albums. True to our word, we've posted responses from a number of candidates, like dynamic newcomer Tracey Brooks, who's running for Congress in New York's 21st district. Click here to watch some of the country’s top contenders answer your questions! Behind Closed Doors Republican Pat McCrory, who is running against Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue for governor of North Carolina, can't get far enough away from George W. Bush in public -- but, like many Republican candidates, he's happy to have the unpopular president raise money for him behind closed doors. Bush appeared last weekend at a private event for McCrory in North Carolina, hosted by a Raleigh developer and closed to cameras. I can only assume McCrory wants to avoid a repeat of the 2004 GOP National Convention, where he heaped praise on Bush. Thank you for your feedback and your interest in news from our exciting campaigns -- and, of course, for your steadfast support of EMILY’s List in what continues to be a fast-moving and unpredictable election year! If I haven't covered a race you're interested in, or if you have a question, please feel free to get in touch. Warmly,  Britt Cocanour Chief of Staff |
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