My voice, my vote

By Jen Bluestein Lamb on 08/26/2010 @ 11:05 AM

Tags: Why Women

90 years ago, thanks to the tireless and courageous efforts of the suffragettes, the 19th Amendment became law, at last giving women the right to vote. These brave and determined women ensured that the voices of future generations of women would be heard and represented.

It wasn't easy. The road was long. There was ridicule. There was contempt, even violence. Endless marches. Hours of unpaid work by women whose names are not famous. Hunger strikes, even. Some of our 'founding mothers' didn't live to cast their first vote.

When we vote, we honor them -- from Susan B. Anthony to Alice Paul to those whose names we don't know -- but whose work gave us our vote, our voice in our country's future.

Only 90 years ago, less than a century, women did not have the right to vote in this country -- but today women lead in offices throughout the country, from the speaker of the House to thousands upon thousands of women in state and local government.

These women stand on the shoulders of our 'founding mothers' -- and arm in arm with women voters. Women voters who wanted to make progress instead of stick with the status quo, who wanted to move forward and who had the courage to raise their voices and cast their votes even when the going was tough.

Women voters have changed the face of this country, because when women vote, women win!

This year women's voices and women's votes are critical to moving our country forward and making sure the issues that affect women, families, and communities across the country -- like access to affordable health care, job creation, and commonsense Wall Street reform -- are priorities.

Make your voice heard by casting your vote. In honor of the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the founding mothers who fought for our freedoms today, pledge to vote this November.

Honor our founding mothers and their long and inspired battle to be heard by pledging to vote for progress, for equality, and for opportunity, as they did.

The Real Radicals

By Hilary on 08/26/2010 @ 10:32 AM

Tags: 2010 Elections, Ann Kirkpatrick, Gabrielle Giffords, Alex Sink, Suzanne Kosmas, GOP Opponents, The Real Radicals

Earlier this week, we watched and waited as Republicans in Arizona and Florida cast their votes in competitive primary races. The outcome? A slew of ultra-conservative candidates ready to take on our pro-choice Democratic women in November. These Republican nominees are extremists fighting for policies that are harmful towards American women and families.

Meet the real radicals running against EMILY’s List candidates Cong. Gabrielle Giffords, Cong. Ann Kirkpatrick, Alex Sink and Cong. Suzanne Kosmas, and you’ll quickly see how critical it is that our pro-choice Democratic women win in November:

AZ-01

Name: Paul Gosar
Prior Profession: Dentist

In his corner:
Sarah Palin; NRCC Young Guns "On The Radar"; Hugh Hewitt; Arizona Right To Life

On women's rights:
Gosar is anti-choice and endorsed by the Arizona Right to Life.

In Congress, he'd fight for:
Gosar supports the Fair Tax which would instate a 23% national sales tax on everything from clothing to household items.

AZ-08

Name: Jesse Kelly
Prior Profession: Construction contractor and former Marine

On women's rights:
Kelly is unashamedly anti-choice: "I support and will defend life from conception to natural end."

In his corner:
Michele Bachmann; Duncan Hunter; Tom Tancredo; NRCC Young Guns "On The Radar": Family Research Council: Citizens United Political Victory Fund; Tucson, AZ Douglas County Tea Party

In Congress, he'd fight for:
Kelly wants to phase out Social Security benefits for America's seniors.

FL-Gov

Name: Rick Scott
Prior Profession: Heading the "Walmart of Health Care" which, following his leadership, was forced to pay $1.7 billion (the largest fine to date paid to the federal government) for Medicare fraud.

On women's rights: As Governor, Rick Scott would immediately sign anti-choice legislation that would force women to pay for and view an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, and would advocate for a permanent ban on embryonic stem cell research.

As governor, he'd fight for:
Scott has promised he would advocate for a state constitutional amendment to block bringing health care reform to Florida’s families.

Fall Preview:
Scott shattered the Florida record for spending in a primary (more than $50 million) and we expect to see the same being launched at Alex any minute now. If it's anything like the ad he put out calling his fellow Republican a dirty diaper, it will be light on the substance and heavy on the mud.

FL-24

Name: Sandy Adams
Prior Profession: State House Representative

On women's rights:
As a member of the Florida House, Adams voted for Florida’s controversial "ultrasound amendment" which requires women to pay for and view an ultrasound of their fetus before obtaining a first trimester abortion.

In Congress, she'd fight for:
Adams would oppose extending unemployment benefits even as the district faces high unemployment.

In her corner:
Florida Right to Life; NRCC Young Guns "On The Radar"; Republican National Coalition for Life; American Conservative Union; National Tax Limitation Committee

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The truth about Sarah Palin's candidates

By Lisa McIntire on 08/25/2010 @ 01:30 PM

Tags: Sarah Palin, Mama Grizzlies, 2010 Elections, Opponents, The Real Radicals

Since we launched our Sarah Doesn’t Speak for Me campaign last week, we’ve received an incredible response: so many have agreed with us that Palin’s voice should not go unchallenged. However, some have wondered: why give Sarah Palin more attention?

We do want to increase the spotlight: we want everyone to clearly see what the candidates who have received Sarah’s political and financial support truly stand for. As a group, these candidates for office have extreme, backwards-looking agendas that are bad for women, their families, and our country.

To show exactly what we mean, we created a page dedicated to illuminating the destructive, far-right views of these politicians – as well as holding them accountable for some of their more outlandish statements. Make sure to check out if any of these candidates are running in your state or district – and help us get the word out about Palin’s band of extremist candidates.

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Carly Fiorina: Bad for women, jobs, and California

By Lisa McIntire on 08/25/2010 @ 12:00 PM

Tags: Barbara Boxer, Carly Fiorina, 2010 Elections, CA-Sen, Opponents

Carly Fiorina, who was fired from Hewlett-Packard after a disastrous tenure as CEO, now wants to use her $21 million golden parachute to land in Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat. This critical race is alarmingly close: recent polls show Fiorina leading Boxer over the margin of error. Barbara’s voice in the Senate has been among the Senate’s most powerful, but her consistent advocacy for women and choice is in danger of disappearing if Carly succeeds. As such, we’ve put together a little primer on Fiorina’s catastrophic career, her atrocious record on jobs, and her deeply anti-woman, far-right views.

Stridently Anti-Choice

In her endorsement of Carly Fiorina, Sarah Palin touted Carly’s anti-choice credentials: “Carly has been endorsed by the National Right to Life, the California Pro-Life Council, and the Susan B. Anthony List.” Carly supports the repeal of Roe v. Wade, despite the fact that a majority of Californians disagree with this extreme position. You can hear her take this extreme position for yourself in this video.

Job-killing failure of a CEO

Before she was finally fired in 2005 for an abysmal stewardship that left HP’s stock price at 50% of its previous value, Carly Fiorina was busy doing some firing of her own: over 28,000 employees lost their jobs, thanks to Carly. With a record like this, it’s flabbergasting that Sarah Palin would praise Fiorina for being a “businesswoman who has run a major corporation” and “knows how to really incentivize job creation.” Well, if you mean run a major corporation into the ground and create jobs overseas (Carly’s a big fan of offshoring), then it’s closer to the truth. Some of Carly’s corporate achievements: one of Portfolio Magazine’s “20 Worst CEOs of All Time” and The Daily Beast’s “20 Most Outrageous CEO Parachutes.”

Supported by extremist groups

The anti-choice Susan B. Anthony List has launched a $100,000 effort to “educate” California Latino voters about Carly’s stance, including a bus tour and a bilingual online ad campaign. Joining the extreme team is the National Organization for Marriage, which backed the recently overturned Proposition 8 in California. In addition to the support of Sarah Palin, Carly also has the backing of right-wing Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and former Sen. Rick Santorum.

The fact is, between Carly’s own deep pockets and the cash fresh from far-right interests, Barbara is in the fight of her life. We simply cannot let Carly Fiorina do to California what she did to HP.

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Primary Preview: Florida's GOP

By Hilary on 08/24/2010 @ 04:51 PM

Tags: Alex Sink, FL-Gov, Suzanne Kosmas, FL-24, GOP Opponents, 2010 Elections

There are just a few hours left in Florida's primary today, as polls close at 7pm EST. Two of our great candidates, Alex Sink and Cong. Suzanne Kosmas, will learn tonight which of the Republican candidates they face in November. Both women will face highly competitive races this fall in this critical swing state.

FL-Gov

The fight for the Republican nomination in this race has been, in one word, ugly. Attorney General Bill McCollum and Rick Scott have gone back and forth on the airwaves, throwing elbows at each other. Scott, who made his millions heading up a health care corporation known as "the Wal-Mart of health care" has poured record-breaking amounts of his own money into TV buys and campaign expenditures. If Scott's money is able to help him across today's finish line, we know this fall will be a long series of his baseless attacks and endless spending.

We can expect the same if McCollum wins the nomination. McCollum is a far-right Republican able to tap into extensive ties to special interests -- which he built over his 20 years in Congress. The GOP has held the governor’s seat for over a decade, and will fight hard and dirty to keep control of this pivotal office -- particularly in the high-stakes year of 2010, with redistricting in the offing (Florida’s governor currently holds veto power over congressional maps). There’s no doubt that Alex will need all the support we can give her through to November.

FL-24

In recent days, we've seen the GOP in this race turn ugly too-- even the Republican leadership is calling out Craig Miller for his antics. Miller, who emerged as the fundraising leader, is one of three Republicans amongst state Rep. Sandy Adams, and city Commissioner Karen Diebel, vying to challenge Cong. Kosmas this fall. All three bring their own brand of Republican rhetoric to this district and will try to put Suzanne on the defensive. Suzanne is a top target for the right-wing, one of the Palin Four, and groups like the NRCC have already committed $22 million to attacking her and other targeted races.

No matter what happens today, Alex and Suzanne will need our support to fight back against their conservative opponents and the national GOP. We'll keep you posted on the results and what you can do to help.

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