Week of July 6, 2007
Tsongas ad spotlights anti-war stance
Recent polls show Niki Tsongas is the frontrunner for Massachusetts's fifth congressional district race -- which is why she is being targeted more and more by her opponents. At the June 19 debate at Devens Common Center, co-sponsored by the Lowell Sun, Tsongas was the target of numerous verbal volleys but she responded with vigor, outlining her commitment to ending the war in Iraq, combating global warming, and ensuring quality, affordable health care for all.
Tsongas continued to set the pace of this campaign when she became the first candidate to launch her television ads. Tsongas's first ad, which began airing June 20 in 29 cities and towns across the district, highlights her strong anti-war positions on Iraq. The 60-second ad spotlights what she says will be her top priority in Congress: "to set a timetable to bring our troops home" and "to care for them once they are here." This first ad buy cost roughly $100,000. The Tsongas campaign plans to run additional television and radio advertising in these final eight weeks before the Sept. 4 primary, along with mail highlighting her views on heath care, jobs, and other priority issues. An early ad buy in the costly Boston area media market portends a very expensive campaign ahead. Tsongas must keep a swift fundraising pace to fend off future attacks and become the first Democratic woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress in over 35 years.
"Hillaryland" returns for the presidency
The Washington Post recently profiled "Hillaryland," the group of longtime aides to Hillary Clinton who make up the senior management of Clinton's campaign to become the first woman president.
"Never have so many women operated at such a high level in one campaign, working with a discipline and a loyalty ... rarely seen at this level of American politics," writes Post reporter Lois Romano.
Fifteen years after Clinton began her tenure as first lady, these loyal staff members have reconvened to help her return to the White House. Led by Chief of Staff Patti Solis Doyle, who was Clinton's scheduler during Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, these long-term staffers are involved in every aspect of the Clinton campaign, including fundraising, media strategy, scheduling, and policy development.
The self-dubbed "Hillaryland" staff is the first high-level presidential campaign primarily (though not exclusively) made up of women. They are fiercely loyal to Clinton -- and she to them.
"Among her own staff, she has cultivated a nurturing culture of collegiality and loyalty, a leadership style based in teamwork, and often favored by women, that values consensus over hierarchy," says Romano.
Click here to read the Post profile.
EMILY's List women in Congress battle Bush
President Bush dashed the hopes of Americans united behind stem cell research once again when he vetoed Rep. Diana DeGette's (Colo.) bill to expand federal funding for a second time. Scientists believe the research could help them develop treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries, and other catastrophic illnesses. This is just another concession in a series of presidential decisions that place Bush's right-wing beliefs before the will of the people.
New York Rep. Nita Lowey is leading the fight to reinstate federal funding for contraception for international organizations that provide abortion counseling. This Reagan-era ban, known as the Mexico City policy, was lifted by President Bill Clinton in 1993. One of Bush's first acts after taking office in 2001 was to reinstate the ban, which has led to a global shortage of contraceptives, a surge in sexually transmitted diseases, and an increase in unsafe, high-risk abortions. Lowey's bill would increase access to contraception and family planning, reducing the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions and saving women's lives. Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski has inserted similar language in the Senate foreign operations bill. Bush is expected to veto this as well.
Lowey, DeGette, Mikulski, and their pro-choice Democratic women colleagues in the House and Senate are doing exactly what we'd hoped they'd do when we helped elect them: fighting for progressive policy that improves the lives of American families. And, because of our hard-won Democratic victories in 2006, they are finally making progress.
But unless we strengthen the Democratic hold on Congress -- and elect a Democratic president -- we won't see these bills become law. The only way to make that change happen is to send in reinforcements -- and that means raising more money for women candidates, helping them build strong campaigns, and getting women out to vote!