Round Four: The GOP Presidential field's Achievements in Awful

By Ryan Sims on 01/17/2012 @ 02:51 PM

Tags: Why Women, GOP Opponents

Here we are again, on the heels of another GOP presidential "debate," which to this point has meant pretty much only the tossing around of cringe-worthy policy ideas.

It's not as if I expected anything different from last night's carnival show, but (much to the detriment of my blood pressure) I still watch.

For a brief moment, I'm putting all my cynicism aside to say this. What these guys think and say really is important for women and families across the country, who we know are watching and judging the field. That's why we're watching too, and continuing to catalogue the field's positions.

And what they think, to no surprise, is just bad. Bad bad. So here again, we present the fourth round of the GOP Achievement in Awful Awards. A hint of the ?fun? to follow -- click through for the full report:

Most insulting rhetoric:
Santorum promotes "marriage as a way of avoiding poverty" for girls.

Scariest policy for women:
Santorum: We should repeal all the federal government's role in primary and secondary education.

And again, just reading it, there goes the blood pressure. Sigh.

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UPDATE: *Two more* big wins for Suzanne Bonamici

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UPDATE: *Two more* big wins for Suzanne Bonamici

By Ryan Sims on 01/12/2012 @ 08:50 AM

Tags: Why Women, GOP Opponents, Suzanne Bonamici

The great news just keeps pouring in from Oregon. Suzanne Bonamici grabbed The Oregonian's endorsement the other day, and now she's raked in two more, this time from The Daily Astorian and Willamette Week.

Some of the best from The Daily Astorian:

"Our choice in this race is Suzanne Bonamici. It is not just that she has been a legislator, while [Suzanne's Tea Party Republican opponent] Cornilles has not. She has been a stand-out in Salem."

"Aspects of Cornilles' business background are troubling."

"We also prefer Bonamici's values. Adding a member to the House Republican contingent . . . is not what Oregon needs . . . Moreover, she displays the energy and even temperament that are essential for success in the House."

Willamette Week calls Suzanne "smart" and "dogged" in her time in the Oregon Senate, while noting that Cornilles' "résumé simply cannot match the accomplishments of Bonamici."

Both The Daily Astorian and Willamette Week have it exactly right (and there are no hard feelings around here, even though we've been saying it for longer than a little while now) -- Suzanne Bonamici is absolutely the right choice for Oregon's first district.

And that energy and and experience that The Daily Astorian and Willamette Week both highlight? Those are exactly the qualifications I'm excited to see in the first election of what's shaping up to be an historic 2012 for woman candidates.

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Toasting the GOP field for their Acheivements In Awful

Toasting the GOP field for their Acheivements In Awful

By Ryan Sims on 01/09/2012 @ 04:52 PM

Tags: Why Women, GOP Opponents

You know, I don't frequently wake up in the morning with the notion in my head that the GOP Presidential field should be honored for something they've done or said.

But this -- this I can get behind.

As we've watched the field of flip-flopping, Medicare-slashing, Planned Parenthood-defunding and just outright terrifying candidates, we just can’t help but be less than impressed at best, and totally appalled at worst.

So, it's with all that in mind that EMILY's List has released the second and third (because Republicans apparently thought it prudent to debate twice in as many days) installments of the GOP Debate "Superlatives." We're calling them the Achievement in Awful Awards, with a note to the field: "For standing out in a crowd of crazy, we salute you."

Like I said, this I can get behind.

So here we go. Check out the EMILY's List GOP Debate 'Superlatives.' A little taste of what's in store from each round (click the headers to see the full slate of awful):

Installment 2:

Scariest policy for women: Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney both want to appoint more justices like Alito and Scalia to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Most insulting rhetoric: Rick Perry said that President Obama wants to bring our troops home "to kowtow to his liberal, leftist base." [Writer's note: 'kowtow,' Governor Perry? Really?]

Installment 3:

Most insulting rhetoric: Mitt Romney: "I was happy that [Ted Kennedy] had to take a mortgage out on his house to ultimately defeat me."

Most hypocritical: Rick Santorum claims to treat gay people with dignity while continuing to compare same-sex marriage to polygamy.

Click through for the rest -- because the crazy just keeps on coming with these guys.

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A big win for Suzanne Bonamici

By Ryan Sims on 01/09/2012 @ 11:35 AM

Tags: Why Women, GOP Opponents, Suzanne Bonamici

We’re only a few short weeks away from the first congressional election of 2012 -- and we’re loving how things are looking for Suzanne Bonamici’s campaign for the House in Oregon. And just this weekend, she picked up a major endorsement from The Oregonian, the largest newspaper in the state. The headline they picked -- and we couldn’t agree more -- Elect Suzanne Bonamici for a new era.

The endorsement is a big win for Suzanne. Just take a look at what The Oregonian had to say about her leadership and qualifications:

"Bonamici would bring experience and understanding of the high-tech interests of the district and solid working relationships with local officials . . . She has the capacity to become a House go-to figure on issues such as consumer protection or intellectual property rights."

The endorsement also highlights the differences between Suzanne and her Tea Party Republican opponent, Rob Cornilles:

"[I]n background and in understanding of the issues, Cornilles can't match Bonamici . . . [she] has a much deeper understanding of the details of the process, and how issues connect to other issues."

Then there’s this, my personal favorite:

“Bonamici is the clear choice to represent the 1st district and raise its profile in Washington, D.C.”

That just about says it all.

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Rick Santorum is running for President. Also, he's terrifying.

By Ryan Sims on 01/05/2012 @ 05:35 PM

Tags: Why Women, GOP Opponents

Ever since Iowa finished caucusing and Rick Santorum galloped to a narrow second place, the former Pennsylvania Senator has garnered, well, about a metric ton of media that he wasn't getting previously.

But I wanted to bring to your attention to one nugget about Santorum that I haven't heard too many folks talking about. He opposes birth control. Full stop. For single women and for married women alike.

The former Senator doesn't mince words about it either. "One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country. It's not okay. It's . . . counter to how things are supposed to be."

He's also said that as President, he would go about eliminating all federal funding for contraception.

Contraception being the thing that prevents pregnancies. Contraception being the thing that the Supreme Court declared free from states' attempts to ban it -- in 1965. Contraception having been used by ninety-nine percent of sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 44.

Among the myriad horrors of a Santorum Presidency, this one is near the top of the list. And that's because it's just another example of the extremism of the Republican Party. It's just another example of the party's unflinching desire to slash women's rights to bits.

And in a time when our economy remains shaky and women and families remain some of those most affected by it, I can't get my head around the idea that what the country needs is more unwanted pregnancies.

And so, Rick Santorum's positions on women and families can be summed up in just one word. Terrifying. Terrifying in his opinion that it's no big thing to make basic women's healthcare illegal; terrifying in his obliviousness to his own radical positions. Just really, really terrifying.

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