• Who We Are
  • Our Mission
  • Our History
  • Senior Leadership
  • Jobs and Internships
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Majority Council
  • Newsroom
• What We Do
  • Our Candidates
  • Senate in 2012
  • Reaching Women Voters
  • Candidates at the Local Level
  • Political Training
  • Multimedia
• Take Action
  • Join Our Online Community
  • Make a Contribution
  • Sign up to Volunteer
  • Ways to Give
  • Attend an Event
  • Blog

September 2009

To: Majority Council Members
From: Ellen R. Malcolm
Date: September 9, 2009

Town hall craziness and health care lies

Remember when town hall meetings were sleepy affairs about as likely to draw news cameras as county zoning board hearings? Those days seemed like ancient history this year, as members of Congress across the country faced angry and, in some places, armed constituents egged on by conservative groups eager to defeat health care reform. Try as I might, I have a hard time understanding how people could swallow the ridiculous talking points peddled by the likes of Sarah Palin and Fox News — “death panels”, rationed care, and other ideas too preposterous to be believed. But the fear of change runs deep, and Republicans showed they are still adept at tapping into that.

As muddling and confused as the scenes were at first, by the end of the month, everyone seemed to calm down. Members of Congress figured out how to handle the unruly crowds, groups backing reform began organizing their own supporters to attend, and by month’s end, equilibrium was established. I think most Americans saw the early town hall fiascos for what they were: astroturf protests engineered to preserve the profits of the insurance industry, with frightened citizens used as pawns. The people who carried on at these town halls are really, truly afraid — but the source of their fear is far more amorphous than health care reform.

Meanwhile, amid all the hullaballoo, the debate over health care reform seems to be rolling along without any substantive contributions from Republicans! Good lord, even the chair of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group, Congressman Roy Blunt of Missouri, doesn’t seem to understand our current system, so it’s hard to imagine him offering viable changes. Blunt, who will likely face EMILY’s List candidate Robin Carnahan in his bid for the U.S. Senate, spewed all kinds of nonsense in a meeting with editors and reporters of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Unlike Fox News, the Post-Dispatch actually checked Blunt’s facts and found them lacking.

For example, Blunt claimed that, at age 59, he is too old to qualify for a hip replacement under Canadian or British health care systems (wrong). He said Americans can just go to the emergency room to get hip replacement surgery (wrong) and that 10-12 million of the uninsured are illegal immigrants (wrong). The Post-Dispatch easily disproved all of these statements, and ran a tart response outlining Blunt’s errors. But I have to wonder — how often has Blunt made these same statements unchallenged? How many unsuspecting citizens have bought into these same fallacies hook, line, and sinker?

I applaud the Post-Dispatch for setting the record straight for Blunt — but as his fellow Missourian, Mark Twain, once said, “How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!” Our EMILY’s List candidates face opponents who are more than willing to say whatever it takes to win. They can’t count on the press to truth-squad every misstatement, or rely on ordinary citizens to check the facts. EMILY’s List and our women candidates will need constant support from members like you in the months ahead to make sure voters have the facts and understand the stakes in the 2010 election.

Boxer draws a challenger

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has taken the first step in her expected 2010 challenge to California Senator Barbara Boxer, forming an exploratory committee called “Carly for California” so she can begin to raise money.

A millionaire many times over, Fiorina brings to this campaign some serious baggage. She had a rocky tenure at Hewlett-Packard, lost the trust of the board, and was abruptly fired in 2005. In 2008, she was one of McCain’s top economic advisors and a media surrogate, until a series of gaffes forced the campaign to pull her out of the public eye. Fiorina’s failure to vote in past elections has been widely reported. And, while California voters have repeatedly made it clear that they support reproductive freedom, Fiorina made it clear when campaigning for McCain that she shares his anti-choice views.

Boxer’s no stranger to tough fights, and the road behind her is paved with those who thought they could beat her. She’s well aware of the challenge she faces in Fiorina, who can rely not just on her own personal wealth, but on the national fundraising network she helped build for McCain’s presidential campaign. We are closely monitoring this race and stand ready to help Boxer if Fiorina should become a serious threat to her re-election.

What’s on Read My Lipstick

By now you know that you can always find the latest news about EMILY’s List candidates and campaigns on our web site, www.emilyslist.org. But if you haven’t visited our blog, Read My Lipstick, you’re missing half the action!

Sometimes funny, always informative, the blog routinely features commentary on our races and posts from guest bloggers like Gloria Steinem, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy. EMILY’s List bloggers also cover special events; in the last month, we’ve had firsthand accounts of town hall meetings and live blogging from the White House conference call on Women’s Equality Day. Running down the side of the blog are Twitter feeds from EMILY’s List candidates and elected women — so even if you don’t “tweet” you can at least find out what all the fuss is about.

There’s ample opportunity on the blog for you to have your say, and dynamic conversations taking place every day — so visit www.emilyslist.org today and add your voice to the debate!

Hillary in the news

If you have not already done so, I urge you to get your hands on a copy of the Sunday, August 23, New York Times magazine, which was full of terrific reporting on the status of women around the globe. Among the features is an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighting her recent trip to Africa and the Obama administration’s emphasis on improving the lives of women in developing countries as a centerpiece of its foreign policy.

Also on August 23, the Washington Post ran a wonderful op-ed by David Rothkopf, a frequent contributor to Foreign Policy magazine, asserting that while the press continues to focus on Hillary’s hair, clothes, and mood, our secretary of state is “rethinking the very nature of diplomacy and translating that vision into a revitalized state department.” In addition to emphasizing women’s rights as human rights (as Hillary so famously said in Beijing in 1995), the new state department is taking a far more aggressive and collaborative approach to global climate change and nuclear disarmament, and working to expand global partnerships beyond the old “Group of 8” paradigm.

Remembering Ted Kennedy

We lost a true hero and champion for women and families with the passing of Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts on August 25. Kennedy was a powerful advocate for so many measures designed to help women achieve equality in our society, including the Equal Rights Amendment, Title IX, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and, most recently, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He will be truly missed.