The 2008 Majority Council Conference
The Conference began, as always, with a welcome from EMILY’s List President Ellen Malcolm. Ellen spoke briefly about the historic opportunities presented by this election -- from the White House down the ticket -- and about the important work before us. She also acknowledged the challenges presented by a competitive presidential primary season featuring two historic candidates – she thanked those of us who supported Senator Clinton, congratulated those of us who supported Senator Obama, and voiced her hope that we can all come together to defeat John McCain in November.
Special Delivery: Donna Edwards
EMILY’s List candidate Donna Edwards will, after winning her special election this Tuesday, be sworn in as the newest House member from Maryland’s fourth House district. Jonathan Parker led a very informative debriefing on her campaign and EMILY’s List’s role in her defeat of incumbent Rep. Al Wynn. WOMEN VOTE! Director Maren Hesla also described the amazing women voter turnout strategy that made the winning difference for Edwards. “I loved the session,” said one of our members. “The close-up view of the Edwards campaign reminded me of how important EMILY’s List is to challengers like Donna Edwards.”
Lunch with former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
Nearly 900 EMILY’s List members and guests gathered in the ballroom for the 17th annual D.C. luncheon. Ellen Malcolm set the stage by reminding us of just what is at stake in this historic election, as well as what we can expect from our Republican foes. Featured speakers included our newest member, Rep. Donna Edwards, who spoke about her experiences growing up, dreaming big political dreams, and running for office. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio treated us to a poetry performance and introduced keynote speaker Madeleine K. Albright. The former U.S. Secretary of State spoke eloquently and movingly about her own experiences in the West Wing and of the absolute necessity of winning the White House in November so that we can reverse the Bush administration policies that have so damaged our standing in the world. Sec. Albright also spoke of the new “axis of evil” we face as a nation--poverty, ignorance, and disease. Click here to read a transcript of Albright's address.
WOMEN VOTE! 2008
EMILY’s List Executive Director Ellen Moran, along with WOMEN VOTE! Director Maren Hesla and pollster Molly O’Rourke led an important and informative discussion about our WOMEN VOTE! projects in a number of primaries this year and the evolution of our turnout strategy in the age of text messaging, Facebook, and other technological innovations. They gave a terrific overview of registration and voting trends from 2000 and 2004 and the encouraging 2008 data suggesting a huge increase in Democratic voter identification. Molly also led a critical discussion about current perceptions of John McCain among pro-choice women, and the need to educate those voters about his record. “As much as many of us are still recovering from the primary,” said one of our members after the question and answer session, “it is critical that we defeat McCain, who offers nothing to women.”
Building a working majority
This was certainly an exciting session. We had the very lucky opportunity to hear from a number of EMILY’s List candidates in the country’s top House races. Each of the candidates introduced herself and spoke about her campaign, about the challenges ahead, and about her plans to make change as part of a stronger Democratic House majority. Many will be the first woman and/or first pro-choice member to represent her district! The panel included Kay Barnes (MO-6), Tracey Brooks (NY-21), Debbie Halvorson (IL-11), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1), and Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24).
Dinner with EMILY’s List’s statewide candidates
We were fortunate to share a wonderful meal and hear campaign updates from U.S. Senate candidates Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as gubernatorial candidates Governor Chris Gregoire of Washington, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue of North Carolina, and Jill Long Thompson of Indiana. These impressive candidates spoke about the campaigns that had defined their political careers, about the voters they were meeting on the campaign trail, and about what EMILY’s List had already come to mean to their trailblazing campaigns. It was the perfect end to an exhilarating day.
Breakfast with EMILY’s List’s rising POP stars
Still energized by Thursday's events, we started the day with breakfast and a panel moderated by Political Opportunity Program Director Susan Markham, who spoke about how the POP program has evolved over the years to meet the needs of our candidates and the changing landscapes of the states in which we’ve played a role in recruiting state and local candidates. The panel also included several of POP’s biggest stars, like Joan Fitz-Gerald, who’s running for Colorado’s second congressional district, and Kate Brown, candidate for Oregon Secretary of State. We also had the opportunity to watch an inspiring video about 28-year-old newcomer Sara Presler-Hoefle, the first woman to be elected mayor of Flagstaff, AZ. Presler-Hoefle told us how, with EMILY’s List’s help, she beat a 4-term incumbent 2-to-1.
He said, She said: Media and the 2008 Elections
What a treat it was to hear from veteran Democratic operative Mary Beth Cahill, who led a panel of renowned experts, including The Nation editor and publisher Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Salon.com staff writer Rebecca Traister, and bestselling author and linguistics professor Dr. Deborah Tannen, in an enlightening discussion about the media’s impact on the election. Cahill drew applause when she emphasized “I want to win in November, but I don’t want this to be a ephemeral moment, or for us to forget, so that future women candidates run into this same buzzsaw.” Vanden Heuvel added, “Hillary Clinton’s candidacy forced a conversation about sexism in the media that was long overdue… I am hopeful that young women are now more aware, and more motivated.” The ensuing discussion was lively and incredibly eye-opening.
State of the List with Ellen R. Malcolm
At the annual insider’s briefing exclusively for Majority Council members, EMILY's List President Ellen R. Malcolm spoke about the organization’s long-term plan to create progressive change in America. She hailed the tremendous opportunities presented by this cycle’s record number of Republican retirements: “manna from heaven,” she called those open seats. She highlighted some of the terrific candidates running in those seats and the importance of strengthening our majorities both in the House and Senate.
Ellen also spoke about the importance of women voters in November, both to electing our own women candidates and to Democratic victories up and down the ticket, from local offices to the White House. She spoke of EMILY’s List’s plan to educate and mobilize women voters, particularly the non-college women who make up a large part of the swing electorate -- and can become disengaged during long and nasty campaigns.
Finally, she underscored the importance of coming together as progressives to defeat John McCain and elect a Democratic president, asking us to be “ambassadors of healing” to our friends and the party. “It’s time we make progress in this country,” she said. “We need a president who won’t pit us against each other and try to scare us into political submission. We have a tremendous responsibility to put more women into office so our new President can get things done. If the Republicans use the filibuster to stop Fair Pay, energy legislation, how are we going to get health care legislation passed? We need working majorities in Congress.”
Lunch with Senator Barbara Mikulski
And of course, what better way to end a hopeful, informative, exciting two days than lunch with Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, the first EMILY’s List-endorsed candidate and the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right. Mikulski, in her typically witty and introspective fashion, spoke about the difference that having women in office has made, particularly for women’s health issues. She also talked about the checklist of change that Democratic women senators will be rolling out in the coming months.
Click here to view and print the handout that was used at the Conference.
