September 2004

New Women's Monitor confirms WOMEN VOTE! strategy

Right is Wrong

"Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life." -- George W. Bush, discussing civil liberties (Washington Post, 8/17/04)

"You guys want to hear this speech or not?" -- Dick Cheney to supporters who interrupted his speech with applause (New York Times, 7/8/04)

"We want to infiltrate the culture with men and women of God who are skilled in the legal profession. We'll be as far to the right as Harvard is to the left." -The Rev. Jerry Falwell, on the law school he's establishing at Liberty University (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/18/04)

"I'd love to fight Roe v. Wade." -- Heidi Thompson, incoming student at Liberty University Law School (Chicago Sun-Times, 8/18/04)

"[P]eople on welfare should not have the right to vote while they're on welfare. Period. End of story. People with less than 100 IQ should not have the right to vote." -- Michael Savage, syndicated radio talk show host (Savage Nation, 7/26/04)

"The poverty genes of less ‘favored races,' which are spread by welfare and immigration, are destroying our cities no less than if they were hit by a nuclear bomb." -- James Hart, GOP congressional nominee in Tennessee's eighth district (www.jameshartforcongress.com)

"This is the most important issue right now that we're facing in this election, even beyond terrorism, beyond the war in Iraq. If we lose marriage, we lose it all." -- Tom McClusky, director of government affairs, Family Research Council (citizenlink.com, 7/1/04)

"I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life." -- Oklahoma GOP Senate nominee and former U.S. Rep. Tom Coburn (AP, 7/12/04)

"If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election cycle." -- Michigan State Rep. John Pappageorge discussing election strategy at a GOP meeting (Detroit Free Press, 7/16/04)

"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job." -- George W. Bush (Lancaster New Era, 7/17/04)

"I know the president has to say certain things -- and I understand that. But I also know that he doesn't believe it." -- Paul Weyrich, president, Free Congress Foundation (Agape Press Christian News Service, 7/9/04)

New Women’s Monitor confirms WOMEN VOTE! strategy

WOMEN VOTE! will elect Democrats at every level in 2004EMILY's List research has identified a key group of voters -- women swing voters -- whose participation in the 2004 election will help elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates and Democrats up and down the ticket, including presidential nominee John Kerry.

"Our latest Women's Monitor confirms that EMILY's List's strategy for mobilizing women voters is right on target," says Karen M. White, EMILY's List's national political director. "The groundwork we've been laying for 18 months, along with our recent WOMEN VOTE! work, has put us on the right track to victory in November."

Since 1996, EMILY's List has conducted the Women's Monitor, a regular series of national surveys, to identify key segments of the female electorate and the issues that resonate with them.

The most recent Women's Monitor, conducted in late June and early July among 1529 registered voters (including 1120 women), revealed valuable information about women swing voters, a critical target comprising 17 percent of the overall electorate and 32 percent of the female electorate.

"This is a group whose participation is not certain -- but when they do vote, they choose candidates from both parties," says White. "Women swing voters by definition do not vote the party line."

And, White notes, "they don't conform to a handy category like Soccer Moms or NASCAR Dads." Women swing voters mirror the overall women's electorate in terms of marital status, children, religion, education, employment, and household income. They are more likely to be white and to live in small towns and rural areas. Many are approaching retirement and their senior years (50 to 64), which strongly influences their issue concerns.

According to the Monitor, women voters overall are downbeat about the direction in which the country is headed --but women swing voters express an acute sense of frustration and disillusionment. More than half are extremely unhappy with the direction of the country. They're particularly pessimistic about the affordability of health care and prescription drugs, their dominant concerns -- followed closely by the war in Iraq, and jobs and the economy.

Key Democratic targets

The Women's Monitor shows that Kerry and Democrats, because of their advantages on key issues, have a real opportunity to persuade women swing voters to vote Democratic in November.

"Women swing voters view Democrats more favorably than Republicans on health care, the economy, fiscal responsibility, and taxes," says White. "Nearly half think Republicans have gone too far in trying to impose their own values on the country. Only 39 percent can volunteer something positive about the way things are going in the country today, while nearly seven in ten (69 percent) have a negative outlook." Incidentally, 66 percent of voters overall share this same pessimism.

Finally, notes White, "women swing voters are twice as likely as all women to be undecided in the presidential contest. Thirty-nine percent of those who choose Bush say they could change their mind. While men swing voters lean towards Bush, women swing voters are still forming their impression of Kerry. They're a very accessible Democratic target."

Advantages for women candidates

One of the most encouraging findings of the Monitor is the extent to which voters across the spectrum want to see more women elected to high office. Nearly three-fourths (72 percent) of voters agree with the statement, "all other things being equal, I think it would be better if more women were elected to important political offices such as governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House." In fact, this feeling is so universal that a majority of nearly every subgroup measured by the Monitor agrees, including men (69 percent), seniors (66 percent), evangelical Protestants (63 percent), and conservatives (61 percent).

Women swing voters in particular favor women candidates, especially on issues such as promoting basic values like family and community; improving education and public schools; making health care more affordable; protecting Social Security; and reducing taxes and promoting fiscal responsibility.

"These voters appreciate women candidates' real-life experiences," says White. "They see that women candidates understand what it's like to juggle work and family and be active in their community. Our goal now is to reach out and energize them to go to the polls."

Implementing our strategy in the field

In late summer, EMILY's List began expanding the WOMEN VOTE! strategy to win in battleground states across the country.

"In order to leverage our resources for maximum political impact, we're focusing on states where we can elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates and mobilize women voters for Kerry and other Democrats at the federal, state, and local levels," says White. With a budget of approximately $10 million, EMILY's List and WOMEN VOTE! are reaching out to women voters in key states like Florida, Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Oregon.

WOMEN VOTE! canvassers are meeting women voters on their doorsteps, equipped with hand-held computers loaded with voter file data, including primary interests and voting history. With each new contact, canvassers add new information to the file to help shape future communications. WOMEN VOTE! is coordinating this massive canvassing effort with extensive phone banking and issue-specific direct mail targeted to individual voter profiles.

"By election day, our efforts will culminate in a precision operation involving a final blizzard of phone calls, door-to-door canvassing, and other personal contact designed to get our targeted voters out to the polls," says White.

Women candidates and voters hold key to victory

Experience has taught EMILY's List that our WOMEN VOTE! strategy works for candidates up and down the ticket. "Motivating women voters on behalf of women candidates in key battleground states boosts every Democrat on the ticket," White says.

• In Michigan, a critical swing state in 2000, Democrat Debbie Stabenow's U.S. Senate campaign captured the excitement and enthusiasm of women voters, which created a huge gender gap and helped her win -- simultaneously delivering Michigan's electoral votes to Al Gore.
• In Washington state in 2000, EMILY's List helped mobilize absentee voters, whose ballots helped Democrat Maria Cantwell defeat an incumbent GOP senator -- and helped Al Gore secure the state's electoral votes.

That winning WOMEN VOTE! strategy will be put to work in key states in 2004, including:

• In Pennsylvania, where the presidential race is extraordinarily tight, driving up the vote in the Philadelphia area is critical to Democratic success. Strong congressional bids by Allyson Schwartz and Lois Murphy will draw moderate women to the polls and help lift John Kerry and every Democrat running statewide.
• In Washington state, which has a rich history of electing women, women voters will be energized by the candidacies of Christine Gregoire for governor, Patty Murray for U.S. Senate, Laura Ruderman for secretary of state, and Deborah Senn for attorney general. Republicans, eager to turn this into a red state since Bush lost in 2000 by only five percent, are spending a fortune to mobilize evangelical voters on Bush's behalf. Women voters are the key to victory for Kerry and other Democrats in this critical battleground state.
• In Missouri, the excitement generated by having women on the ballot puts the state in play for Kerry and boosts Democratic candidates up and down the ticket. The GOP considers winning Missouri absolutely vital to President Bush's re-election. But Claire McCaskill's race for governor, Nancy Farmer's race for the U.S. Senate, Bekki Cook's for lieutenant governor, and Robin Carnahan's campaign for secretary of state will bring moderate women to the polls who will reject the right-wing policies embodied by the Bush administration.
• And finally, in Florida, perhaps the most watched battleground state in the nation, Kerry and other Democrats will benefit from the energy generated by Betty Castor's Senate race among women voters. Women in Florida are overwhelmingly concerned about health care, education, and the economy -- and the more they learn about the Democratic agenda for change, the more likely they are to provide the margin of victory for Democrats in 2004.

Women can end the Bush administration

"We know that the majority of Americans are unhappy with the direction of their country and appalled by the partisan tone of our politics," says Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List. "It's a time that calls out for the leadership of women in elected office. By helping elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates at the federal, state, and local levels, we'll add important new leaders to office ... we'll add the votes in Congress that will help Democrats retake the House and Senate ... and we'll create a synergy that will turn out the voters Democrats need to win the White House."

A Message from Ellen R. Malcolm

In less than two months, we will cast our votes in what I believe to be the most important election of our lifetime. It's time to launch a call to arms to the women of America: let's unleash the power of women to defeat George W. Bush, send John Kerry to the White House, and elect pro-choice Democratic women to office at every level of government.

Bush and his administration aren't just conservative--they're radicals, hell-bent on reshaping America to suit their own financial success and their thirst for power.

It's time for women to go on a mission to reclaim our country. For it is women who have had enough of an arrogant foreign policy that ignores reality, puts our soldiers in peril, and places our country and the world in harm's way. It is women who have had enough of Republicans' sanctimonious talk about religion and family values, while doing precious little to help families. And it is women who have had enough of the Bush pandering to the religious right that divides our country, destroys the separation of church and state, replaces science with dogma, and has at its core the goal of making women subservient and politically powerless.

Karl Rove has a plan to solidify the political control of radical Republicans. His plan rests on three significant assets. First, even though the Kerry campaign has raised historic amounts of money, the Republicans still have tens of millions of dollars more. Second, they are using the power of incumbency to control the campaign agenda. And third, they can -- and will -- use the fear created by terrorism to bind voters to the president.

Well, EMILY also has a plan. At EMILY's List we know how to harness the power of women to create political victory. We rely on the talent and experience of the women we have worked with and trained, who can put together winning campaigns. We fuel the campaigns of our women candidates to energize voters and remind them that the Democrats are fighting on their side. And we reach out to women voters through EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! to turn the 17-point gender gap into the winning margin for John Kerry and the Democrats.

Women candidates energize all voters, but they have a special resonance with women voters. EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! has two critical goals for 2004. We will convince Democratic women who vote inconsistently to go to the polls, and we will help persuade women swing voters to vote for the Democrats.

Today the electorate is evenly divided in its support of Kerry and Bush, leaving an important segment of swing voters who reject partisan labels and tend to be undecided. Seventeen percent of the electorate is women who are swing voters. Their decisions will quite likely determine who will be the next president.

EMILY's List is talking with these women about health care and prescription drugs, about Iraq, and about the economy and jobs. We are convincing them that voting for the Democratic ticket is in their best interest, for as we know at EMILY's List, "When Women Vote, Women Win."

Karl Rove should know that EMILY has a plan to win in November, and the political clout to carry it out. We are on a mission to take away the political power of George W. Bush and his radical right cronies and replace them with the thoughtful, honest, progressive leadership of John Kerry, John Edwards, and our pro-choice Democratic women at the local, state, and federal levels.

And I have a vision that sustains me through rising and falling poll numbers, when the terror alert changes color or the Republicans hold another multi-million dollar fundraiser. This vision buoys me when I'm waiting in one more airport or making one more fundraising call.

It's a vision that relies on the power of women to control our own destiny.

In my vision, it's the morning after election day, and all across Washington and the country, in the red and gold of EMILY's List and the proud purple of SEIU, in the green and white of the Sierra Club and the red, white and blue of our Democratic party ... all across America, our allies in this titanic battle will put in our windows or hang from our balconies a simple statement that describes the political power of women: Mission Accomplished.

Candidate Spotlight: Lois Murphy

House challenger Lois Murphy has turned the race for Pennsylvania's sixth district into one of the most-watched House races of 2004. Her opponent, GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach, is way out-of-step with the moderate voters of his suburban Philadelphia district, voting in support of the Bush-DeLay agenda nine times out of ten. Murphy's pollster calls Gerlach "the invisible man" because, after two years in Congress and 12 in the state legislature, few voters know who he is. Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg wrote of Murphy's challenge, "Gerlach ... is in big, big trouble."

A working mother of two, Murphy is an attorney and former president of NARAL Pro-Choice Pennsylvania. EMILY's List recently talked to Murphy about what it's like to run for Congress and what she hopes to do once she's there.

You offer a clear contrast with your opponent on choice. What other differences do you want voters to know about?

My top priorities are job creation and economic development: lifting up our community by investing in infrastructure and education and balancing the federal budget. My opponent has voted time and again for tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and encourage outsourcing. He's paid lip service to education and health care without providing any real leadership or resources. He says he's satisfied with the economy and says that the Bush administration's fiscal policies are leading to a recovery. But the people I talk to know that the jobs being created are part-time, that they pay $9,000 less than the jobs we've lost in Pennsylvania, and that many don't have benefits and health care. So people aren't satisfied with the recovery and neither am I. I'll be a stronger and more effective voice for the priorities of people who live here.

There are no Democratic women in the Pennsylvania congressional delegation. Why is it important for women to run for office?

Because we really can make a difference and bring a different perspective to public life. I've had a wide variety of experiences. I'm a mother, a wife, a law professor, a lawyer, an advocate, a volunteer ... I've fought for women's rights and reproductive freedom ... I've had so many roles in my life, and all of them have helped me build skills I can use to develop practical solutions to our problems. People are looking for a fresh, pragmatic approach, for leaders who take the time to listen to our concerns and are invested in our communities. I think Pennsylvanians are responding to women as candidates and I think it's a good thing for Pennsylvania.

How does the fact that Pennsylvania is a battleground state with several hot congressional races affect your campaign?

The people in my district and across the state are energized about the national and local races much earlier than I would have thought. We've had tremendous support from volunteers -- there are more than 50 working in our office and many more going door-to-door and making phone calls. There is a lot of enthusiasm, excitement, and optimism -- and lots of organizational support from groups around the country like EMILY's List, which makes such a difference in electing women and in energizing women to vote.

How does your family feel about your campaign?

It's been wonderful seeing not only my husband's support but watching my two daughters learn from the campaign. My younger daughter, Lilly, was asked at school to come up with a list of five words to describe her mom for Mother's Day. The first one she put down was "leader." It was great to learn that's how she sees me. Her second assignment was to write a statement about how your mom makes you feel special. She wrote about how I read to her and play with her -- then the last one was, "she makes me feel like I can do anything." I think this campaign experience has really opened their eyes to a world of possibility.

What advice would you give to a young woman seeking office for the first time?

You simply couldn't run for office without the support of thousands of people. You don't realize that when you start. You're building an enterprise that is much bigger than yourself. I've been astonished at the support I'm getting from people all over the country -- friends, loved ones, neighbors, and people I've never met before. I got an email from my first grade teacher -- she heard about me through EMILY's List! It's been extremely encouraging and gratifying.

Describe the effect EMILY's List support has had on your campaign.

It's almost impossible to quantify. EMILY's List helped recruit staff and taught me how to get a campaign up and running. EMILY's List has helped not just through raising funds and inspiring support from across the country, but by connecting me with people right here in my community who immediately understood when they heard that EMILY's List had endorsed me that I was a serious candidate with a real chance of winning.

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