robert,
After an intense Presidential race, a highly stressful chicken fight over the fiscal cliff, and now this sequester stalemate, it might feel tempting to chuck it all and take a break from politics.
But believe me, the Republicans aren't taking a break. RNC Chair Reince Priebus has vowed to "seize the lead" in election technology while expanding the GOP's electoral map in order to play in more states. The Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity has spawned a new secret money group tasked with an under-the-radar push for their extremist agenda.
That means that we can't take a break either. We've got high-priority races already moving at breakneck speed -- with elections this year. We've got to keep the heat on congressional Republicans still doggedly pushing anti-woman, anti-family policies.
So there's no rest for me, Stephanie, or anyone else at EMILY's List. We've got to keep pace with the GOP so we can protect our gains and increase our numbers in 2013 and 2014. Are you with us?
Please take a moment and contribute to EMILY's List, so we can make sure Reince, the Kochs, and the rest don't engineer a successful Republican reboot.
I'm eager to share all these developments and more with you -- so let's get right to the News from the Field!
All the best,
Amy K. Dacey
After an intense Presidential race, a highly stressful chicken fight over the fiscal cliff, and now this sequester stalemate, it might feel tempting to chuck it all and take a break from politics.
But believe me, the Republicans aren't taking a break. RNC Chair Reince Priebus has vowed to "seize the lead" in election technology while expanding the GOP's electoral map in order to play in more states. The Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity has spawned a new secret money group tasked with an under-the-radar push for their extremist agenda.
That means that we can't take a break either. We've got high-priority races already moving at breakneck speed -- with elections this year. We've got to keep the heat on congressional Republicans still doggedly pushing anti-woman, anti-family policies.
So there's no rest for me, Stephanie, or anyone else at EMILY's List. We've got to keep pace with the GOP so we can protect our gains and increase our numbers in 2013 and 2014. Are you with us?
Please take a moment and contribute to EMILY's List, so we can make sure Reince, the Kochs, and the rest don't engineer a successful Republican reboot.
I'm eager to share all these developments and more with you -- so let's get right to the News from the Field!
All the best,
Amy K. Dacey
Robin powers to win in IL-02 special
The votes are in, and progressive powerhouse Robin Kelly has clinched the Democratic nomination in the special election to replace Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. A respected leader on consumer rights and domestic violence prevention, Robin is favored to win April's general election in the heavily Democratic 2nd district. Robin has been on EMILY's List's radar for some time -- we supported her 2010 campaign for State Treasurer through our Political Opportunity Program (POP) -- and we can't wait to watch her take on the Republicans and go to bat for middle-class families. Congratulations, Robin!
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Long time coming
It took more than 2 weeks for the GOP House to step up and move on the Violence Against Women Act - leaving more than 3 million Americans without lifesaving protections for far too long. Predictably, our EMILY's List women in the House - led by Rep. Gwen Moore, who has bravely shared her own stories of abuse - have been anything but silent, repeatedly calling on John Boehner for a vote on VAWA. And it's worked. VAWA looks to be coming to the House floor tomorrow. Way to speak truth to power, Gwen!
Ready to weed out extremism in the Garden State?
Ready to weed out extremism in the Garden State?
I don't know about you, but the only thing that sounds worse than "Governor Christie" is "President Christie." So let's shut down that party before it even starts. We've just endorsed the woman to do it: State Sen. Barbara Buono -- and you're going to be hearing a lot about her in the next few weeks.
It's no secret New Jersey's right-wing governor has West Wing ambitions -- ambitions we have a chance to scuttle by giving him a re-election campaign that's more like a reckoning. We've got the brief on Christie's shockingly abysmal record -- and the strong, progressive candidate to send him packing.
It's no secret New Jersey's right-wing governor has West Wing ambitions -- ambitions we have a chance to scuttle by giving him a re-election campaign that's more like a reckoning. We've got the brief on Christie's shockingly abysmal record -- and the strong, progressive candidate to send him packing.
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Is that so?
Christie, by the way, was lightning-quick in responding to our Top 10 (look out, David Letterman!), claiming via a spokesperson, "New Jerseyans don't really care what big-money Washington DC groups do to distort records to support their big government agendas." Said spokesperson also predicted work like ours won't have much impact in the 2013 race. We'll just see about that, guv.
And speaking of govs...
And speaking of govs...
We sure were craving some girl power company for Maggie Hassan -- the country's only Democratic women governor -- during last weekend's Democratic Governors Association meeting. Fortunately, the list of opportunities to get her some company appears to be growing. In addition to New Jersey's Barbara Buono (see above), Pennsylvania Rep. Allyson Schwartz is also reported to be considering a challenge to GOP Gov. Tom Corbett, and Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo has her eye on the Governor's seat. Keep 'em coming, ladies!
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They said what...?
Republicans have aired some hypocritical, insulting, and just plain bizarre ideas over the past several weeks. We took the liberty of compiling the highlights, or shall we say lowlights:
"When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is the largest organ in a body. That's a big thing. That's a big surgery. You don't have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that." -- Alabama state Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, introducing her new TRAP bill that could shut down all five of the state's abortion clinics
"Nothing can be done to your body without your permission. It'd be a violation of the constitutional right to privacy if that were to happen." -- GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, apparently missing the irony of his reassurance about a rumored government-implanted microchip program
"Ashley Judd is the Democrat version of Todd Aiken [sic]." -- Grover Norquist, joining in conservative fearmongering over a potential Judd Senate candidacy -- and too eager to make his unfunny joke to double-check the spelling of the ex-Rep's name
"Even if it's for a good cause, if you come to me for diabetes, or hemophilia, or violence against women, which are all noble causes that I support, I still have to ask myself, can we borrow the money from China for it?" -- GOP Senator Rand Paul on his vote against VAWA
"When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is the largest organ in a body. That's a big thing. That's a big surgery. You don't have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that." -- Alabama state Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, introducing her new TRAP bill that could shut down all five of the state's abortion clinics
"Nothing can be done to your body without your permission. It'd be a violation of the constitutional right to privacy if that were to happen." -- GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, apparently missing the irony of his reassurance about a rumored government-implanted microchip program
"Ashley Judd is the Democrat version of Todd Aiken [sic]." -- Grover Norquist, joining in conservative fearmongering over a potential Judd Senate candidacy -- and too eager to make his unfunny joke to double-check the spelling of the ex-Rep's name
"Even if it's for a good cause, if you come to me for diabetes, or hemophilia, or violence against women, which are all noble causes that I support, I still have to ask myself, can we borrow the money from China for it?" -- GOP Senator Rand Paul on his vote against VAWA