Sarah Palin has spent much of the past year endorsing conservative, pro-life women and getting a number of others to enter the political fray. Well, Emily’s List, according to an article in Politico, has decided to fight back. This organization, as we all know, is an interest group that seeks to elect pro-choice women to public office. Silly me, I thought that this group had followed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign to its ultimate demise.
But no, Emily’s List has found a new target for funds from its supporters. They are starting a campaign called ‘Sarah Doesn’t Speak for Me’. They intend to form a website that will publish stories and revealing ‘information’ about female candidates who Sarah has supported. It’s sort of hard to determine what makes this any different from previous Emily’s List campaigns since, according to their spokeswoman, ‘the campaign is national in scope and will focus on helping all the candidates Emily’s List has endorsed this year rather than zeroing in on any specific states or races.’
A counter-group, Susan B. Anthony List, has formed this year in response to Palin’s call to action. This organization supports women candidates who are pro-life. Much as Emily’s List has included itself into the Democratic Party, the SBA List is only supporting pro-life Republicans. Their first target was a bus tour across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana to pressure Democrats who represent those states who voted for health care reform.
I assume that both groups understand the political truism that once an interest group is subsumed within one political party, it cannot achieve any of its real goals, and instead will be provided with symbolic benefits to appease its membership.











August 17th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Its a testament to how threatened the left is by Sarah Palin that an entire group is dedicating their efforts to bringing her down.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
The problem for Emily’s List is that Sarah Palin DOES speak for MANY (if not MOST) American women.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Beth, I think its main problem is as an organization that you have to be elderly to remember when abortions were illegal. So, young pro-choice women have little incentives to get involved on their side, but a pro-life women have a lot of incentives to get involved on the pro-life side.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
I don’t think the left is threatended by sarah palin, at least not yet, but they are puzzled at how someone as lightweight is such the star of the right. I have no idea of sarah palin’s policies really or her world view. I think she is basically a former television sportscaster gone into local politics, but without the national knowledge or desire. What on earth is a mama bear anyways? How does that translate into national or foriegn policy? She is kind of like a model train off the tracks and I have no idea where she is going, nor does she.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
@Brian: re “puzzled at how someone as lightweight” , meaning Palin. Well, many of us have used that same expression when referring to your president—just how the hell did that train wreck happen?
August 17th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
See, the difference is, I actually know what I am talking about and am a good gauge to depth and clarity of issues. It goes beyond, your opinion is as good as mine and we are all equal. I have tried to understand her, and I watched all the republican convention when she was paraded out and I do understand what they were hoping for in her. I get it. But she has nowhere near the grasp of a biden or obama of very complex issues. She just doesn’t. I miss the demise of post world war 11 middle class america too, but she brings a pretty skimpy portfolio here. And she doesn’t seem to surround herself with the kind of poeple who can really advance her into the new millenium, the age of globalization. McCain didn’t either and he fell flat on his face. She has no in depth knowledge of issues and speaks derisevly on them when pinned down by an interviewer. Regardless of sex or race what you need is someone who has a real dee[ interst in complex issues for the future we face. Use to be a reporter would ask john glenn about his neat looking new watch and he would take it off and go into intimate engineering details on how they thing ticks till everyone was mesmerized. I want very savvy people at the very top. The people at the top are driving a huge US national battleship in rough waters and we need a special kind of person, a special kind of team. Ultimately, complain all you want, but without rebuilding our manufacturing base, our infrastructure, our quality of life at home, we will not be able to grow and pay our way out of our huge deficits. The solution is going to take three generations and the right policies and a return of fairness at home and even fun agian and I just don’t see sarah getting on board with that.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Brian, Brian, Brian !
“The people at the top are driving a huge US national battleship in rough waters and we need a special kind of person, a special kind of team.”
The ‘people’ at the top couldn’t drive 99cent matchbox car. You’re right tho..we need special people and a special team—that’s why we’re working our behinds off—so we can get some of these special folks in DC asap!
August 17th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
I don’t see any republicans who show the kind of promise your fantacizing about. You have to remember the battleship also has a unique mind of its own and could be turning into a Hal 5000 that has its own agenda, or artificial intelligance to its own survival and adaptation separate from the humans. In fact, humans might be nothing more than a type of parasite on a bigger nonhuman beast, call it a government, a beuarcracy, and robotoid, but it may just be using our life form to enlarge itself. In fact, all the elements on earth heavier than oxygen come from distant supranove exploding eon’s ago and the very iron they send us incorporates into our blood cells which one day will send manned missions to distant stars, perhaps, and in effect, return their minerals to those areas, in effect making us simple carriers. it gets even more complex if you start thinking about it.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:23 am
“See, the difference is, I actually know what I am talking about and am a good gauge to depth and clarity of issues.”
Think much of yourself Brian? You’re actually nothing but a babbling, agenda driven idiot.
August 18th, 2010 at 2:05 am
Emily’s List: Journolisters in pantsuits. What are they doing infringing on Sarah Palin’s copyright? She owns the Mama Grizzly logo.
August 18th, 2010 at 4:32 am
I’d imagine it will be a thoughtful campaign – something original like a montage of shots of Sarah shaking hands with Bush….
August 18th, 2010 at 5:03 am
monkeyed your rude here and considering you don’t blog in depth on the issues but just make short sarcastic or silly commentaries you should thank me for taking this blog more seriously, if what you guys want is some serious commentary. My only agenda is having an honest productive discussion. Now if that is an idiot to you, you should go back to elementary school and start all over. You right wingers are so disrespectful and churlish it would fit on an episode of “arrested development”. If palin masters the issues she would then become a more serious candidate for national office. But that would take both an aptitude and a lot of work. I still cannot imagine someone quitting a governorship to parade around the country asking for national office without doing the necessary background learning. Your voting for a bookcover. But the story inside is awfully thin porridge.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:10 am
Yeah Brian – that would be like someone who had never had a job in his whole worthless life serving a half term in the senate then running for president….
August 18th, 2010 at 5:16 am
or like someone never having a real job just start serving as governor of texas on his way to the white house? At least cheney was a telephone linemen in his youth. I don’t think bush even had a summer job in college. I don’t think he was stocking shelves in aisle number 5, ever. One thing is clear, you have to work your tail off to get a Harvard Law Degree. You can’t just attend class and zone out.
August 18th, 2010 at 5:31 am
Acually GW served in the military, formed an oil company, and owned a baseball team.
Apparently he got a bit more use out of the Harvard Business Degree he paid for than O’vapor trail got out of the law degree we paid for.