Power of Democratic Women

In light of discussion of how democratic women in Ulster outnumber the men by 20,000+ to 14000+ here is e-mail was passed on to me from a colleague of mine in Cambridge, MA. about women's power of the vote. While the piece is focused on the number of women who voted for Hillary, the point is well made that Democratic women are the majority of voters, and need to be heard.

"
We made a huge difference...see below. We are a true power bloc. Please read and pass onto your friends. And, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you did to help Hillary.
We are a power bloc – since the DNC and party leaders are ignoring us, we need to be very shrewd and use that power so that they understand – throwing over our candidate is not going to work out for Democrats.
Among all women, Hillary led 51 percent to 43 percent, and from March through May she led 55 percent to 44 percent. Among white women, Hillary leads 61 percent to 34 percent and among Latinas, Hillary leads 58 percent to 25 percent for those states reporting Hispanics in exit polling. among non-African-American women, Hillary led 60 percent to 35 percent, and she led 62 percent to 33 percent among this group in states that voted March through May.
And Hillary brought more women into the process. Women rose from 7.56 million in the 2004 Democratic primaries to more than 21 million in May 2008 – from 54% to 58% of the Democratic primary electorate. In Ohio, for example, women rose from 52% of the Democratic presidential primary voters in 2004 to 59% in 2008.
Here's a chart showing HRC's margin among women in states from exit poll data – in states like Arkansas, Mass, NY, RI, WV, she won more than 60% of the female vote:


Total Vote
Women


% of All
#
HRC %
#
Obama %
#
Alabama
536635
60%
321981
41%
132012.2
56%
180309.4
Arizona
456626
62%
283108.1
53%
150047.3
40%
113243.2
Arkansas
314234
60%
188540.4
73%
137634.5
23%
43364.29
California
5066978
54%
2736168
59%
1614339
36%
985020.5
Connecticut
354495
59%
209152.1
53%
110850.6
45%
94118.42
Delaware
96374
60%
57824.4
45%
26020.98
51%
29490.44
Florida
1749920
59%
1032453
54%
557524.5
31%
320060.4
Georgia
1060851
63%
668336.1
33%
220550.9
65%
434418.5
Illinois
2038614
59%
1202782
35%
420973.8
64%
769780.6
Indiana
1276261
56%
714706.2
52%
371647.2
48%
343059
Iowa
237347
57%
135287.8
30%
40586.34
35%
47350.73
Louisiana
384346
60%
230607.6
38%
87630.89
58%
133752.4
Maryland
878174
62%
544467.9
41%
223231.8
55%
299457.3
Massachusetts
1244133
58%
721597.1
62%
447390.2
36%
259775
Michigan
594398
57%
338806.9
60%
203284.1
0%
0
Mississippi
434071
58%
251761.2
39%
98186.86
58%
146021.5
Missouri
825050
56%
462028
48%
221773.4
49%
226393.7
Nevada
117599.04
59%
69383.43
51%
35385.55
38%
26365.7
New Hampshire
287557
57%
163907.5
46%
75397.45
34%
55728.55
New Jersey
1108044
58%
642665.5
58%
372746
39%
250639.6
New Mexico
148404
56%
83106.24
52%
43215.24
46%
38228.87
New York
1891143
58%
1096863
62%
680055
36%
394870.7
North Carolina
1575451
57%
898007.1
43%
386143
55%
493903.9
Ohio
2233156
59%
1317562
57%
751010.4
41%
540200.4
Oklahoma
417207
53%
221119.7
54%
119404.6
30%
66335.91
Pennsylvania
2307759
58%
1338500
59%
789715.1
41%
548785.1
Rhode Island
186036
57%
106040.5
66%
69986.74
33%
34993.37
South Carolina
532151
61%
324612.1
30%
97383.63
54%
175290.5
Tennessee
623284
59%
367737.6
58%
213287.8
38%
139740.3
Texas
2868454
57%
1635019
54%
882910.1
45%
735758.5
Utah
131403
57%
74899.71
48%
35951.86
50%
37449.86
Vermont
154960
57%
88327.2
42%
37097.42
56%
49463.23
Virginia
986203
57%
562135.7
39%
219232.9
60%
337281.4
West Virginia
357226
53%
189329.8
73%
138210.7
22%
41652.55
Wisconsin
1113753
58%
645976.7
50%
322988.4
50%
322988.4
--
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man tumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short agian and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt "

A Political Glass Ceiling?

The LATimes has been running a series of "dustups" between young and old feminists,Amanda Marcotte and Katha Pollitt, about the state of women in politics. The first of the series is at
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-marcotte-pollitt2-2008jun02,0,3755296.story at the end, click on the subsequent days, 5 in total.

And, from the New Republic http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=2c2ec3a8-e813-4d4e-b566-510e0f19eced

Blogs & Politicians

Recently there has been a brief e-mail discussion about what Jeremy Blaber puts up on his blog--my comment is that it is his blog, and reflects his opinions re: news and commentary.

Here is an article from CQ Politics (Congressional Quarterly) on how politicians are trying to tap into the blogosphere.
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002710033

David Balducci's latest book --The Whole Truth (Grand Central Pub., 2008) is about "perception management" or spinning the truth in the age of the internet & multi media (this goes way beyond Wag the Dog.

The internet has a LOT potential, it holds a lot of information and misinformaiton. The object is learning to critically assess the information.

Misogyny

Sexism is a reality for every woman and girl, not just Hillary Clinton. So as Bob Herbert says in column "Politics and Misogyny" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/15herbert.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
"With Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s win in New Hampshire, gender issues are suddenly in the news. Where has everybody been?"
He then goes on to point out the more explicit sexism in the media and in Nevada, where the candidates have been campaigning which he calls "the misogyny capital of America."
Herbert says that sexism is an issue that have to address, especially as potential future Commander in Chief, since sexism and the derivative violence is rampant in the military --one third of military women surveyed in a 2003 health study said they were either raped or victims of attempted rapes while serving our country.
Herbert ends his column with " If we’ve opened the door to the issue of sexism in the presidential campaign, then let’s have at it. It’s a big and important issue that deserves much more than lip service. "
And, let's do more than just talk about it!

The Politics of Pile-on Hillary

What do you all think of the "pile-on" Hillary--from the Republicans to the Democrats?
I posted about the debate Tuesday night on my blog (blogging-for-america.blogspot.com).

The boys are playing the gender card against her.

Lisa Belkin wrote about the double standard and mixed messages that women get in the workplace in "The Feminine Critique" this past Thursday in the NYT. Here is the website for that article : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/fashion/01WORK.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1194096081-U9RjHhUDw0B2xmri2yuTQA

Hillary, though, is maximizing this--her statement yesterday says that her rivals : "aren't piling on because I'm a woman. I think they're piling on because I'm winning."
followed by "I anticipate it's going to get even hotter, and if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen - and I'm very much at home in the kitchen."

Her statement was perfect--she framed the pile-on to her advantage. Remember in her race against Lazio for the NY Senate seat, she won votes when Lazio tried to undermine her and acted 'ungentlemenly.' He drove votes to Hillary! She won not only because of her campaign but because not only did he run an unorganized campaign, most of the money he raised was from out-of-state, and those people do not vote in state. He forgot the most basic rule of any campaign: votes matter!