May 2004

Pennsylvania primary offers opportunity

Right is Wrong

"There's no debate in the world as to whether they have those weapons.... We all know that. A trained ape knows that." -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 9/13/02 (reprinted online in The Nation, 3/16/04)

"Midgets would make the NBA more diverse, but not better. Pedophiles on a school board would certainly make it different... but not better." -- Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large, National Review Online, lecturing college students on the value of diversity (Washington and Lee Trident, 3/17/04)

"I promise you this: If George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election. It's that simple." -- Cong. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) (CNN, 3/4/04)

"Max Cleland should stop allowing Democrats to portray him as a war hero who lost his limbs taking enemy fire on the battlefields of Vietnam." -- Ann Coulter, columnist (Townhall.com, 2/12/04)

"We need to keep them out of here." -- Rhea County, Tennessee, Commissioner J.C. Fugate, seeking to enact an ordinance to charge gay residents with crimes against nature and ban them. Rhea County is also the site of the Scopes Monkey Trials (AP, 3/17/04)

"Some of them are coming here to kill you and to kill me and our families." -- Cong. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), on illegal immigrants (Copley News Service, 3/12/04)

"A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure. To provide stability." -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas)

"... let's edit this out. ... This is not a good thing for you to be saying. And you don't mean it anyway." -- Christine DeLay, Tom DeLay's wife (The Armstrong Williams Show, repeated in Roll Call, 2/10/04)

"That procedure isn't what we care most about. Our goal is to stop the killing of unborn children at any development." -- Arizona Right-to-Life counsel John Jakubczyk, on banning certain abortion procedures (The Washington Monthly, 12/03)

"...every time the government gets smaller there are fewer Democratic precinct workers in the world." -- Grover Norquist (Mother Jones, January/February 2004)

"There is a connection in our society between the increasing disrespect shown to women in our society and an ultra-feminist ideology that pushes teenage girls to play a brutal contact sport with teenage boys." -- Columnist Terence Jeffrey, in reference to allegations of rape of female college football players (Creators Syndicate -- Townhall.com, 2/26/04)

"...it's time for the U.S. government to stop spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year on programs designed to lower the number of babies born even further. ... USAID's Office of Population must be shut down. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) must be shut down. And all population monies must be shifted to pro-natal programs." -- Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, which successfully lobbied the Bush administration to withhold $34 million that Congress had appropriated for the UN Population Fund (Lifenews.com, 3/24/04)

"Hello? I'm sorry. I'm right in the middle of an event. It's who? It's God? ... Yes, God? Yes, sir, I'm right in the middle of -- the president's coming. ... Yes, sir. Well, we want -- yes, sir. We want to do what's right. And our president does. And we're behind him, yes, sir, we sure are. Yes, sir, we know you don't take sides in the election. But, if you did, we kind of think you'd hang in there with us, Lord, we really do. ... Yes, sir. We'll pass those good words on. I see. You talked to the president and he talks to you anyway. ... Take care of the family and marriage and the people of America and all the people and the children. ... Well, thank you for blessing me, and we'll bless you, too. ..." -- Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, taking a phone call from God during his introduction of President Bush to the assemblage at the Republican Governors Association (Countdown With Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, 2/24/04)

"According to studies done on women who have been raped and then had an abortion, they found that (having an abortion) was about like being victimized a second time." -- Wendy Wright, senior policy director, Concerned Women for America, speaking against an amendment offered by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D) and Olympia Snowe (R) to lift restrictions on federal funding for abortions on military bases for victims of rape or incest (Focus on the Family's Citizenlink.com, 3/22/04)

"Evolution, as I understand it, is an academic theory. I think it should be taught as an academic theory." -- Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue, addressing the Georgia Christian Coalition's "Families and Freedom" conference (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/1/04)

"I've been a bit surprised at some of the social policy moves he's made, most notably continuing Americorp [sic], which is a dumb idea...." -- Former Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas), on President Bush's support for Clinton's Americorps community service program (Jewish World Review, 3/31/04)

"We are trying to change the tones in the state capitols and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship. ... Bipartisanship is just another name for date rape." -- Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform (quote originated in 2003; repeated by Molly Ivins, Creators Syndicate -- Washington Post, 3/11/04)

EMILY's List launches 2004 WOMEN VOTE! project

EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! is underway in battleground states, educating women voters on issues and persuading them to vote in critical primaries where pro-choice Democratic women are running.

"Every day we are laying the foundation for a comprehensive national voter mobilization strategy," says Joe Solmonese, chief executive officer of EMILY's List. "We're using our expertise in mobilizing women voters to elect pro-choice women to all levels of government and kick George W. Bush out of the White House in November."

For months, EMILY's List political operatives have been laying careful groundwork for the most important WOMEN VOTE! project in EMILY's List history. These activities include:

• enhancing voter files with demographic data to tailor messages to specific voter segments;
• identifying groups of voter targets by analyzing past voting behavior and demographic, psychographic, and geographic variables;
• monitoring issues and voter attitudes through focus group and polling research in targeted states, to sharpen the focus on the concerns most important to women;
• training staff to run voter identification, persuasion, and turn-out campaigns.

As we complete this important work, WOMEN VOTE! projects are starting in states where pro-choice Democratic women are running in difficult primary contests.

"We've been contacting voters personally and by telephone, through the mail, and over the Internet to measure voting preferences, identify persuadable voters, and test motivational messages," says Solmonese. "We plan to stay in touch right through election day to encourage women to cast their votes in person or by absentee ballot."

Action plan for victory: Pennsylvania 13

EMILY's List implemented our WOMEN VOTE! strategy to help state Sen. Allyson Schwartz win the Democratic nomination for Congress in the weeks leading up to Pennsylvania's April 27 primary.

"With 21 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is a critical battleground state in the presidential race," says Solmonese. "And here, as in so many states across the country, women voters are the key to Democratic victory. This contested primary for an open congressional seat gave us an important opportunity to test our strategy before we expand the program."

A classic swing seat, Pennsylvania's 13th district has changed hands several times over the last decade. The current representative, Democrat Joe Hoeffel, is running for the U.S. Senate, leaving the seat open to Republican takeover. Schwartz faced a well-funded, well-connected opponent in the April 27 primary; Republicans, eager to take this seat back, also staged a bitter primary fight for the GOP nomination.

In the weeks before the primary, polls showed Schwartz and opponent Joe Torsella in a dead heat, with a large group of undecided voters. Estimating a total vote count of about 45,000, "we knew we needed about 23,000 votes to win," says Maren Hesla, EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! director.

To focus women's attention on the issues and Schwartz's extraordinary Senate record, EMILY's List's implemented a sophisticated and cohesive get-out-the-vote (GOTV) strategy, updating conventional techniques with modern technology.

Personal contact

"We began in Pennsylvania by updating the voter file to identify potential Democratic supporters," Hesla says. "Then we hired trained canvassers to go door-to-door and communicate directly with women voters about the issues at stake in this election, especially health care and education."

WOMEN VOTE! enhanced this personal voter contact with technology-driven outreach. Every WOMEN VOTE! canvasser carried a Palm Pilot loaded with voter file data, giving immediate access to voters' names, primary interests, and voting history.

"With this information, our canvassers were able to target particular members of the household -- women who regularly vote in primaries, for example," says Hesla. Canvassers used the Palm Pilots to enter new information gathered during the visit. At the end of each day, they synched the Palm Pilots with the database back at headquarters, appending all new information to the voter file.

WOMEN VOTE! canvassers started by knocking on 49,908 doors to talk to voters about Schwartz's record. They later returned to approximately 36,000 of those doors to continue their conversations with voters about Schwartz's record and identify her supporters.

Telephone outreach

The Pennsylvania WOMEN VOTE! project also used phone banks to identify Schwartz supporters and establish regular contact through election day. This effort was coordinated with the door-to-door canvass, "so that voters who cannot be reached on foot got telephone calls, and those without phone numbers were reached at their doors," Hesla says.

WOMEN VOTE!'s initial round of calling targeted 32,965 voters to identify candidate preference and principal issue concerns. Then a second round of calling went out to 10,303 households who were undecided during the first round.

"Our script in the second round was determined by voters' initial issue concerns," says Hesla. "Voters who said health care was their top issue received a call describing Schwartz's record on health care. After describing Allyson's record on their top issue, we asked if voters were planning to support her on election day. An exceptionally strong 66.5 percent of undecided voters converted to Allyson, giving us an additional 5,192 Schwartz IDs."

By primary day, WOMEN VOTE! had made another round of get-out-the-vote (GOTV) calls to approximately 14,000 households with identified Schwartz supporters, for a total of 57,268 telephone calls.

Direct mail

"Throughout the campaign, WOMEN VOTE! conducted polls to track voter attitudes and responses, which guided our direct mail strategy," says Hesla.

WOMEN VOTE! created 13 different pieces of mail to registered Democrats who voted in at least one of the last three primary elections, for a total of 280,000 pieces of mail. These voters each received an average of seven pieces of mail tailored with messages appealing to specific segments of the electorate, based on data collected through the canvass.

"Not every voter received every piece of mail," Hesla explains. "For example, younger voters received a piece heralding Schwartz's efforts on behalf of children; older voters received mail emphasizing her work for affordable health care."

Getting out the vote

By election day, WOMEN VOTE! had covered every bit of this district either by phone or on foot to identify all likely primary voters.

"Our polling indicated that Schwartz needed a high turnout in order to win," says Hesla. "Consequently, we made GOTV a top priority."

EMILY's List contacted members in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, asking them to help in the last four days of the primary campaign. Additionally, we sent staff members from D.C. to join the WOMEN VOTE! employees already on the ground.

"We visited between 15,000 to 20,000 households during the GOTV phase of the campaign to remind the occupants how critical their vote was to Schwartz's victory," says Hesla.

The final piece of WOMEN VOTE! mail arrived at voters' households during this phase. Voters identified as solid or likely Schwartz voters also received a final telephone call to urge them to go to the polls April 27.

All this GOTV work paid off when Schwartz won the primary by 2,073 votes.

She now faces a wealthy doctor in November. "This district is one of several nationwide where we are expecting a close race in the general election," says Hesla. "WOMEN VOTE! will continue to be active in Pennsylvania."

WOMEN VOTE!: why it works

Over the last 19 years EMILY's List has become the country's foremost authority on women voters. We use this expertise to help elect Democrats -- women and men -- at every level, from local office all the way up to the U.S. presidency.

EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! has a demonstrable track record of success in turning out women voters, particularly in presidential election years. In 1996, WOMEN VOTE! targeted 2.7 million women voters and tapped into the gender gap that re-elected Bill Clinton and numerous Democrats up and down the ticket.

In 2000, women voters helped Democrats tie the Senate (eight of nine new Democratic senators had WOMEN VOTE! projects in their states); helped Democrats narrow the margin in the House; and helped Al Gore win more votes for president than any candidate in history.

EMILY's List research confirms that women voters are the key to defeating George W. Bush and electing Democrats in 2004. The Women's Monitor survey measured an 18-point gender gap and showed that women voters make up almost two-thirds (64 percent) of Democratic get-out-the-vote targets.

"Using our research and analysis, EMILY's List has identified the voters who will decide the 2004 election," says Solmonese. "All this insight enables us to construct a state-of-the-art WOMEN VOTE! project that will turn out millions of women voters on behalf of all Democratic candidates in 2004."

What's Cooking?

Political news from Washington and around the country

After a four-month fundraising freeze, Washington state Attorney General Christine Gregoire's campaign for governor is back in action ... as a state elected official, Gregoire was required to cease all campaign fundraising 30 days before, during, and after the legislative session ... her likely GOP opponent, Dino Rossi, avoided the freeze by resigning from the state Senate in the middle of the legislative session (giving voters a clear sense of his priorities) ... Rossi raised $1.6 million compared to the $1.45 million Gregoire raised before the freeze ... Gregoire's primary opponents were also able to raise money during the session, giving them a boost leading up to the Sept. 14 primary ... in spite of her fundraising disadvantage, Gregoire continues to lead in the polls.

George W. Bush refers to himself as "a war president" ... maybe that's why the RNC purchased ad space on miniclip.com, a gaming web site ... one of the games on the site is "Bush Shoot Out," in which cartoon versions of Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, armed to the teeth, go mano a mano with terrorists invading the White House ... sounds like something that might work on NRA-TV ... yes, that's right, the National Rifle Association is creating its own media organization ... the webcast launched in April ... plans are in the works to buy radio and cable TV stations ... "If you own the news operation, you can say whatever you want," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, according to the AP ... at least LaPierre understands the first amendment.

Some in Congress apparently think that whole checks and balances, separation of powers part of the Constitution is waaaayy over-rated ... Kentucky Rep. Ron Lewis has introduced a bill that would allow Congress to reverse Supreme Court rulings ... 11 Republicans are cosponsoring Lewis's Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act of 2004 ... Lewis told the AP that justices who "‘were not elected and are serving life terms,' should not have the final word on what ‘the American people must do and not do'" ... it's not clear whether Lewis has thought this thing through completely ... what happens if his bill passes and the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional?

Apparently the housing and urban development needs of Florida supercede those of the 49 other states ... that's the conclusion one might draw from a review of former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez's official travel ... now running for the GOP nomination in Florida's Senate contest, Martinez made an awful lot of trips home before resigning his post and making his candidacy official ... the Washington Post reports that 48 percent of all Martinez's domestic travel in 2003 was to Florida ... according to the Post, Martinez's trips home generated media coverage and helped him elevate his profile before he became a candidate and had to spend campaign funds for his events.

On the Democratic side of Florida's Senate contest, EMILY's List candidate Betty Castor led the primary field in fundraising for the first quarter of 2004 with $1.2 million raised ... she still falls behind Democratic Rep. Peter Deutsch in cash on hand ... Deutsch transferred nearly $3 million from his House account early in the campaign ... he reported raising $1.1 million in the first quarter, but failed to note to the press that nearly half of that came from his own pocket ... not exactly a demonstration of broad support for his candidacy ... yet another poll shows Castor leading the field ... the Orlando Sentinel pegs Castor with a nearly two-to-one lead over Deutsch.

First the good news ... the White House announced it would not submit the nomination of Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., Rush's cousin, to a spot on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ... now the bad news ... the White House has nominated a former lobbyist for the mining and cattle industries to serve on the Ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over land use in the western U.S. ... nominee William G. Myers has called the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act "regulatory excesses," according to the Boston Globe, which also points out that Myers "has never been a judge at any level, has never been a law professor, and has never even participated in a jury trial."

The war on terror broadens ... earlier this year, Education Secretary Rod Paige suggested that the National Education Association is a terrorist organization; now Bush advisor Karen Hughes has likened pro-choice Americans to terrorists ... asked by CNN how choice would play in the presidential election, Hughes said, "I think after September 11, the American people are valuing life more. ... Unfortunately our enemies in the terror network, as we're seeing repeatedly in the headlines these days, don't value any life, not even the innocent and not even their own" ... Hughes says the notion that she compared pro-choice Americans to terrorists is "a gross distortion" ... but, just in case, watch out for those pro-choice teachers!

Pioneering activist and feminist Millie Jeffrey dies

After an extensive and accomplished career in social justice activism, Mildred ("Millie") McWilliams Jeffrey died Wednesday, March 24, near Detroit, Michigan. She was 93 years old.

Born in 1910, Jeffrey spent her lifetime working to ensure fairness for workers, minorities, and women. She began her career as a labor organizer in 1935. After her marriage in 1936, she and her husband, Homer Newman Jeffrey, organized workers throughout the South and on the East Coast. They worked in Washington, D.C., during World War II as consultants to the War Labor Board and moved to Michigan in 1944, when Millie became the director of the newly formed United Auto Workers Women's Bureau. Jeffrey's passion for justice and equality led her to join the NAACP in the 1940s and march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the 1960s.

In 1971, Jeffrey co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus, where she became an inspiration and role model to a generation of feminists. Millie led the effort to convince Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale to choose Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in 1984.

"Millie's organizing skills and vast knowledge were critical to us as we were forming EMILY's List in 1985," says Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List. "Her dedication helped make possible the careers of just about every woman who holds office today." Millie saw years of work come to fruition when EMILY's List candidates Jennifer Granholm and Debbie Stabenow became the first woman governor and U.S. senator (respectively) from her home state of Michigan.

Jeffrey's contributions were honored in August 2000, when President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States government. Her resilient leadership and unwavering dedication to social justice made her one of the most extraordinary women leaders of our time. Malcolm noted that Millie "died as she lived -- full of irreverence, a zest for life, and inspiring determination. She was a wonderful role model and I'll miss her. But what a legacy she left."

Candidate Spotlight: Betty Castor

With more than 30 years of public service, Florida's Betty Castor -- three-term state senator, two-term state education commissioner, and former president of the University of South Florida -- is the leading candidate for retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Graham's seat.

Poll after poll clearly shows Castor, the Democratic frontrunner, has the most statewide appeal of all the candidates. Mainstream voters are drawn to her history of pragmatic, success-oriented leadership. EMILY's List spoke with her recently about her career and this race for the U.S. Senate.

You consistently lead in every poll, even though your name hasn't been on a ballot in Florida in 14 years. How do you explain this?

Well, I've had a high public profile. I was commissioner of education, a statewide elected position and one of seven members of the state cabinet; I was the only female in the cabinet; and I held that position until the end of 1993, when I was appointed president of the University of South Florida. And that too is a very high- profile position.

So it's not like I disappeared from public affairs -- quite the contrary. While president of USF I worked with my counterpart at the University of Central Florida to build the Florida I-4 high-tech corridor, an economic development plan between the two universities. That really got me out into central Florida transforming the state's economy. Then I was recruited as president of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, another position in which I was constantly in the public view.

In all of those roles, it was a tremendous advantage to have run for elected office -- and yet it was also a great advantage not to have to campaign and yet still be building a public profile.

What drew you back into electoral politics?

I feel strongly about the direction in which this country and Florida are going, and when Bob Graham announced that he was going to run for president, I said, I want to do this. I care about preserving and strengthening the safety net that has been built in this country, whether for veterans or the elderly or children. This race is as much about the basic economic fabric of this country as it is about my own state of Florida. We've got to target job growth for the years ahead. We've got to think about the future, and that's not being done in a systematic way.

You raised more than any Democrat in the first quarter of 2004. Still, you are likely to be outspent in the primary -- especially by Rep. Peter Deutsch, who has $4.5 million in the bank. How do you stay competitive?

He's been raising money for ten years. He simply transferred $3 million from his House account over to his Senate. That's fair, but it means I have to work hard to compete. He'll have to spend all that money to increase his name recognition -- and at some point he and the other candidate in South Florida will have to compete in that enormous media market.

I have a very experienced, professional staff, and I'm dedicated to raising the money. We outperformed both opponents in the last quarter, and if I have anything to do with it, we'll outperform them again in the next.

The National Review, describing Deutsch's bank account and your lead in the polls, wrote, "Republicans are hoping he'll start to run negative ads against her, which would make her damaged goods in the fall." What does that tell you about Republicans?

There is no doubt that they don't want to face me in the general election. That's very obvious. It's wishful thinking.

You've been on the vanguard of certain issues -- I'm thinking especially of Florida Kids Care, which preceded federal efforts to cover uninsured children by seven years. This idea was ahead of its time. How did you get that passed?

You can only resolve these issues in a bipartisan way, and I think that's one of my strengths -- my temperament and ability to get along with people. And of course it's important to understand the issues. For example, I certainly would have opposed the prescription drug bill that just passed in the Medicare Reform Act, because it limits the ability of states to negotiate the price of drugs.

Your daughter is a Hillsborough County commissioner who may run for the U.S. House. You were the first woman elected to the Hillsborough County Commission. How do you feel when you think about her career and those of other young women who are moving through the barriers you helped break down?

Well, I'm a very proud mama when it comes to talking about my daughter. She's doing an exceptional job. I was very young when I was elected the first time, and people said, "you're too young." Then it was, "but you have children." People don't ask those questions today, so we've made progress! We're seeing a new generation come up. I'm proud of the role women have played, and hope that I can add one more woman's voice to the U.S. Senate.

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