August 2008
TO: Majority Council Members
FROM: Ellen R. Malcolm
DATE: August 7, 2008
EMILY's List in Denver
Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and special guest Michelle Obama
headline our Convention Gala
Our office is alive with activity as we get ready to head to Denver for the Democratic National Convention at the end of this month -- and prepare for the EMILY’s List convention gala on Tuesday, August 26, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Denver Hotel, 1550 Court Place in downtown Denver.
Our gala is the premier event spotlighting women at the Democratic National Convention. We are coming together in unity -- women who supported Senator Clinton and women who supported Senator Obama -- to show that Democratic women are committed to winning at all levels in 2008.
This year we expect more than 1,500 EMILY’s List members, convention delegates, and other guests to join us. And I am thrilled beyond words about our trio of headliners: Senator Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and special guest Michelle Obama.
Time is running out, so if you have not already done so, I urge you to register online at www.emilyslist.org. I know you will want to be a part of this historic event!
If you can’t make it to Denver, don’t fret: you’ll have ample opportunity to experience the convention with us online. Our Web team will be working around the clock to provide up-to-the-minute coverage of the convention. We’ll webcast our event liveand post daily updates, including exclusive video, photos, and the latest news from the convention. So, if you can’t join us in person, you can still be with us virtually.
WOMEN VOTE! 2008 underway
Biggest effort in EMILY’s List history includes groundbreaking research
Democratic registration is on the rise across the country, while Republicans are losing ground. That’s good news, but registration alone won’t win this election: we need to persuade voters, new and old, to support Democrats and go to the polls November 4.
And since women voters are the key to Democratic victory, EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE! 2008 is more important than ever -- for the presidential campaign, for congressional candidates, and for every Democrat on the ticket in November.
We have an ambitious goal to raise $10 million, which will be used to target nearly 6.5 million women voters in key congressional, gubernatorial, presidential, and legislative battlegrounds through direct mail, phones, internet advertising, social networking, and broadcast media.
We are also conducting extensive research that we’re using to shape the most effective plan for 2008, but that will also yield continuing benefits for EMILY’s List and our progressive allies well beyond election day 2008. This includes:
- Developing winning strategies for deflecting GOP attacks on divisive wedge issues like immigration, taxes, and national security. We’re using the results of a national Women’s Monitor poll and focus groups to help Democrats respond to attacks, remind voters of Republican failures, and steer the debate to a progressive agenda. We are sharing our data with Democratic nominees and our progressive allies.
- Deepening our understanding of generational differences among women voters, most notably among “Millenials” (those born between 1981 and 1990), Gen Xers (1964-1980), Baby Boomers (1946-1963), and seniors (born before 1946). Through polling and focus groups, we are learning how women in different generations experience and participate in politics, their cultural differences, and their attitudes toward women candidates. We are particularly interested in learning more about Millenials, the up-and-coming generation of women who are just starting to express themselves politically, and how we can engage them at the nonpresidential level. In all three groups, we are looking especially closely at women who do not have college degrees (a demographic usually described as “non-college” women), always a critical bloc of swing voters.
- Conducting “measurable impact testing” to improve future voter mobilization efforts for EMILY’s List and the progressive community. In 2006, we tested the effectiveness of our WOMEN VOTE! effort in Michigan by setting apart a control group of women voters who did not receive any communication at all from EMILY’s List or other groups active in the state that year. Through post-election research, we were able to measure the differences in voting behavior between women voters targeted for WOMEN VOTE! contact and those who received none. This year, we’re conducting similar “measurable impact testing” in most of our WOMEN VOTE! campaigns, gathering data that will help us determine the most effective ways to communicate with women voters. Specifically, we’re testing whether women are more motivated by negative messages about Republican opponents or positive messages about our candidates; the impact of early mail; the relative effectiveness of single-candidate mail vs. mail that features two or more candidates; and the impact of issue ads paid for with soft money, compared to electoral “vote for” messages that require hard money.
Maren Hesla, director of EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE!, is doing an impressive job, developing sophisticated tools to use on behalf of our candidates and all Democrats. We are breaking new ground -- and it’s made possible thanks to generous support from you and all Majority Council members. Your commitment to progressive change is helping to build a program that will harness the power of women voters in November on behalf of our pro-choice Democratic women candidates, Barack Obama, and every Democrat on the ticket in November. Thank you for your support.
Primary season wrapping up
EMILY’s List is shepherding our last few candidates through the process of securing the Democratic nomination and launching their general election campaigns. We celebrated a big victory June 10, when Chellie Pingree won a contested primary in Maine’s first district, a relatively safe Democratic seat. Fast forward to Tuesday, August 5, when state Rep. Judy Baker became the Democratic nominee in Missouri’s ninth congressional district. The only woman in a field that included the former speaker of the Missouri House, Judy won the crowded race with 44 percent of the vote. She will face ultra right-wing former state Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer in November. A health care professional, Judy will be able to draw a strong contrast with Luetkemeyer, who sponsored legislation in the House allowing insurers to eliminate mammograms and postnatal hospital care from required coverage.
This memo goes to print before we learn the results of one more key primary: Joan Fitz-Gerald in Colorado’s second congressional district. Results will be posted online by the time this reaches you. This seat is safely Democratic, so if Joan wins, we will have effectively added one more new woman to the House.
Next up is Arizona on September 2, where former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is favored to win in the first congressional district, an open GOP-held seat. In November, she will likely face mining lobbyist Sydney Hay, a conservative with backing from a variety of anti-choice and right-wing groups.
And the final primary for an EMILY’s List candidate is September 9 in New York, where attorney Tracey Brooks is running in an open Democratic seat. Tracey is the only woman in a crowded field that includes a former state legislator and a county legislator, both well-connected party insiders who are raising lots of cash for their campaigns.
A note on Washington state’s August 19 primary, in which all candidates, regardless of party, appear on the same ballot, with the top two vote-getters proceeding to the general election. EMILY’s List is backing two women in Washington: Gov. Chris Gregoire and congressional candidate Darcy Burner in the eighth district. Neither candidate faces significant Democratic opposition, but both will essentially be in head-to-head matchups with their GOP opponents in a “dress rehearsal,” for November. A strong showing now will help them build momentum for the general election, so both women are working hard to win big on the 19th. Darcy has the added challenge of regrouping after a devastating fire that destroyed her family’s home. Her campaign has continued uninterrupted, but personal business has understandably taken precedence over campaign fundraising -- making every single contribution from her supporters more critical.
Majority Council on the web
You’ve probably noticed that we’ve been making major changes to our web site, transforming it into a very dynamic place to get your political information. We’ve added more features about our candidates, their opponents, and current political events; links to the top political news of the day and commentary on political blogs; and an entire section devoted to debunking the persistent myth that John McCain is a moderate. We're engaging more often in online activism, mobilizing the entire EMILY’s List community to hold the media accountable for persistent sexism.
And now we’ve added a special section just for the Majority Council at www.emilyslist.org/majority_council. It has all the same features of our regular web site -- candidate profiles, videos, and more -- along with special information about the Majority Council Development Team and the senior staff of EMILY’s List, and photos and coverage from Majority Council events, including the last two Majority Council conferences. You can use it to keep in touch with the Majority Council Development Team member for your state -- or find out who she is. And, of course, you can express your support for EMILY’s List right there by making secure online contributions.
Like everything on the internet, our site is constantly evolving and changing. Every day we’re putting up new information, so no two visits will be the same. I encourage you to stop by often to see what’s new -- and send us your thoughts on how we can make www.emilyslist.org an even more valuable tool.
New candidate recommendations
Late last month we recommended a new group of outstanding candidates for member support:
- Kay Hagan for U.S. Senate in North Carolina against incumbent Elizabeth Dole;
- Jeanne Shaheen for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire against incumbent John Sununu;
- Christine Jennings for Congress in Florida’s 13th district against incumbent Vern Buchanan;
- Suzanne Kosmas for Congress in Florida’s 24th district against incumbent Tom Feeney;
- Debbie Halvorson for Congress in Illinois’s 11th congressional district, an open, GOP-held seat, against concrete magnate Marty Ozinga;
- Ann Kirkpatrick for Congress in Arizona’s first congressional district, an open, GOP-held seat (primary September 2); and
- Dina Titus for Congress in Nevada’s third congressional district against incumbent Jon Porter.
The mailing also features a profile of WOMEN VOTE! 2008, our most ambitious effort yet, with a fundraising goal of $10 million.
The new candidate on this list is Dina Titus of Nevada. You might remember Dina from 2006, when she narrowly lost a bid for governor. Dina won a majority of votes in this congressional district, and Democrats were very pleased when she decided to step up and challenge Jon Porter, a devoted Bush supporter who is resolutely anti-choice. Dina’s a strong fundraiser, but she will not be able to match Porter, who has more than $1 million in the bank. Fortunately, she has plenty of name identification after 20 years in the state Senate and 15 as minority leader (a post she resigned to run for Congress). She doesn’t need to introduce herself to voters -- but she does need to raise enough money to respond to GOP attacks from Porter and his allies, who are desperate to keep what one local reporter called “a sycophant” and “devoted bench warmer” for the White House. Dina is a talented legislator, a unique voice, and a courageous progressive. I hope you will take time to read more about her and all our outstanding recommended candidates in this mailing.
We are still watching a number of races and planning to add more women to the list in coming weeks. The map of promising opportunities is expanding, and more and more races appear winnable, particularly if there is a Democratic wave -- which we are doing our part to create!