Articles Posted July 29, 2008

*Click on headers to read full articles

A new Rasmussen Reports national
telephone survey finds that 36% believe African-Americans face more discrimination,
while only 28% say it's worse for women.

In the new survey, four out of five black voters (80%) say members of their race face more discrimination than women, while white voters are split on the question. Thirty-percent (30%) of whites say blacks are more victimized, but 31% say women are.

Women are more divided on the question than men. While 36% of men think African-Americans are more discriminated against, 28% think that of women. Among women, 33% think racism is more prevalent, while 35% say sexism is.

USA/Gallup poll has McCain ahead 49%-45% among likely voters
7/29/08
Republican John McCain gained ground in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll that found Democrat Barack Obama's highly publicized foreign trip has not broadened confidence in his ability to be commander of the U.S. military.

The poll, taken Friday through Sunday, showed a surge since last month in likely Republican voters and suggested Obama's trip may have helped energize voters who favor McCain.

The Dems May be in for a HUGE Congressional Victory
"The Democrats have moved further ahead of the GOP in newest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that, if given the choice, 47% of voters would choose their district’s Democratic candidate, while 34% would choose the Republican candidate." It should be noted that, in October 2006, before the Democrats big victory, this same survey had the Democrats ahead only 34 %to 30%.

Obama-Clinton Ticket Is Seen as Unlikely
7/29/08
NY Times: When Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton abandoned her bid for the presidency and endorsed Senator Barack Obama in June, she made clear that she was interested in becoming his running mate. But there is mounting evidence that Mr. Obama's interest in Mrs. Clinton for the post has faded, if, in fact, she ever really was a strong contender to be on the ticket with him.

Obama Seeks To Overcome Doubts Among Women
7/29/08
AP via Seattle Times: But many of Clinton's supporters aren't so willing to embrace Obama, at least not yet. Independents and moderate Republican women remain a question mark, too. So Obama is working fiercely to win their votes. He has put out a report explaining what his economic plans would mean for women.


Peru's Women Unite In Kitchen - And Beyond
7/28/08
CS Monitor: The kitchens have become a vehicle for collective action, giving women the self-esteem to denounce government shortcomings and demand change. They have risen as one of the most significant women's organizations in Latin America, and today are on the forefront of protests demanding solutions.

Filmmakers' Point: Putting Women In Charge
7/29/08
SF Chronicle: Filmmakers Amy Sewell ("Mad Hot Ballroom") and Susan Toffler decided to make Wilson and six other smart, ambitious young women the focus of their new film, "What's Your Point, Honey?" A feminist film, it looks at the political gender gap through the lives of these ethnically diverse women.

Obama appoints Muslim Liaison

Asbahi is a corporate lawyer in Chicago who, the campaign said, represents a number of Arab American and Muslim businesses in his practice.

Asbahi will also head the campaign's outreach efforts to Arab Americans -- a tricky double portfolio, as most American Muslims aren't Arabs, and many Arab Americans aren't Muslim.

It is, in any case, one of the campaign's tricker jobs, as Obama's denials that he's Muslim occasionally rankle in the Muslim community.

Obama Seeks Latino Vote with $20 million Effort

ACTION! ENDGAME (from VoteBoth.com)

"But his associates describe [an Obama-Clinton dream ticket] as unlikely, saying that for a variety of reasons, Mr. Obama is not looking to have her as a running mate or serving with him in the White House. . . . [Obama's short list] includes Senators Evan Bayh of Indiana and Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, as well as Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia..."
-New York Times, 7/29/08

Dear Friend,

This is it; this is the endgame. We have to act today.

Today’s newspapers tell us that Senator Obama is looking closely at some candidates for running mate, and Hillary is not on that list yet.

Obama’s team say there are “a variety of reasons” he is not yet looking to put her on the ticket.

Well, you and I are voters, and we have something to say about it, too. Let’s give Senator Obama our own “variety of reasons” to put Hillary Clinton on his short list and really consider putting her on the ticket.

Email a letter to the New York Times and Washington Post and tell what Hillary adds to Obama’s ticket.

http://www.voteboth.com/endgame

Today may be our last chance to be heard – take a moment and help make the case for putting Hillary on the short list.

Sincerely,

Allida Black

Sexism: The Invisible Ism

by Barbara Cohn Schlachet
July 29. 2008

http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/072908.html

Summary: As the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are working hard to garner women's financial and political support, many are still reeling from the sexist treatment Hillary Clinton received in the media. In the latest WMC Commentary, author Barbara Cohn Schlachet explores a "deafening silence" from candidates and campaigns about the overt sexism that took place in the media during the primaries. Aside from web sites supporting Hillary Clinton and women's rights groups, Schlachet wonders why the media and the public are so willing to accept overt sexism. Her theory: "It occurs to me that, among marginalized groups, women uniquely live with those that marginalize them, in a context of intimacy, loyalty, love and, often, dependency." Schlachet, a psychologist/psychoanalyst, further explains that women and men are often faced with cognitive dissonance -- holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously -- which surfaces when people see their actions as conflicting with their self-concept. In conclusion, Schlachet believes "in order to become more sensitive to sexism in the public sphere, we have to acknowledge it in the private sphere."
More...


In the aftermath of the primary season, I've been puzzling over the lack of reaction, on almost every front, to the degree of overt sexism that was pervasive in the media during this time. With the exception of organizations and websites that supported Hillary Rodham Clinton, and those that are specifically oriented towards the rights of women and the portrayal of women in the media, there has been a deafening silence from the candidates and their campaign organizations, from the mainstream media, from the DNC, the RNC and from the public at large, both male and female.

Had this overt misogyny been any other form of bigotry, there would have been justified outrage. Had MSNBC's Tucker Carlson said, instead of "Every time she [Clinton] comes on TV, I involuntarily cross my legs," "Every time he [Obama] comes on TV, I involuntarily check for my wallet," more than a public apology would have been demanded. So, why is sexism different? Why does it fly under the radar, even when it's overt? Why are the media and the public so willing to accept it?

It occurs to me that, among marginalized groups, women uniquely live with those that marginalize them, in a context of intimacy, loyalty, love and, often, dependency. Women are not literally ghettoized or ostracized. To the contrary, we are fully integrated into every community-with the exception of the power echelon in academia, business, media and politics-at least to the naked eye. However, ghettos (not to be advocated) offer the opportunity for a kind of solidarity; one knows who the enemy is, against whom one has to fight back, who is US, and who is THEM. This has played an enormous role in the civil rights struggle for African Americans, in the struggle for gay rights, religious freedom, and is now playing out in the effort to gain rights for immigrants.

Women, however, as well as men, are faced with what is essentially an issue of cognitive dissonance around issues of sexism. The phenomenon-holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously-surfaces when people see their actions as conflicting with their self-concept. The stress this engenders needs to be resolved by rejecting one of the contradictory ideas, or by denying discomforting evidence.

Within the family, gender is often an issue of status, as it is in the workplace and within our culture at large. Although our notion of family is based on a myth of equality, the institution is founded on the premises of patriarchy. The "ideal" heterosexual marriage is one in which the husband is older than, richer than, stronger than, taller than, more educated than (or, at least as educated as) his wife. To reconcile the dissonance between equality and status differences, one of these premises has to be dismissed or negated. Thus women and men, needing to maintain the illusion of equality in order to sustain a loving familial context, tend to deny, or at least minimize, the existence of sexism.

As women, we don't want see ourselves as less than, or "anti" the men in our lives-our husbands, sons, brothers and fathers-because we also love them. They, in turn, don't perceive themselves as sexist, because they love us-their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters. In addition, we don't want to be seen as the stereotype that men complain about: strident, bitchy, ambitious ball-busters.

How can any of us, then, women or men, become sensitive to issues of sexism in the media, when we can't let ourselves become conscious of it in the rest of our lives?

I can't help but think of the statement about sexism made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the most powerful women in American politics today. When questioned about sexism during the primaries, Speaker Pelosi commented to the effect that she was aware of sexism, and had certainly had to face it herself, but that she didn't let it bother her. Where would the civil rights movement be had Rosa Parks or the Reverend Dr. King not let racism bother them? Yet, if we do let it "bother us," we end up having to face in our homes and families what we regularly face on the TV screen. I'm sure that media commentators, the majority of whom are male, do not see themselves as bigots or misogynists. How can they be, when they love the women in their lives?

So, what can we do to increase sensitivity to media bias? In the early 1980s, I was one of a group of people asked by NOW to monitor TV commercials over a period of time. My task was to pretend that I was a visitor from another planet, who got her information about life on earth and its inhabitants only from these commercials. I was then to describe women and men on earth. It was an eye-opening experience not only for me, but also for my two then pre-adolescent sons, whom I'd asked to join me in this task.

It could not be missed that women were the people doing the housework and cooking; men were the experts, commenting on the cooking and cleaning products in voiceovers. Similarly, men were the doctors, financial advisors, scientists, and the like. Women were the teachers, nurses and caregivers. Quite a portrayal to bring back to another planet! Has this changed? To some extent it has; there are more women doctors, scientists and financial advisors in today's commercials, but TV pundits are generally male. Perhaps specifically targeted task forces of this kind could again be useful, with responses passed on to the media, and to the sponsors.

I remember that at the time of our project for NOW, we asked women to boycott the products of sponsors airing sexist commercials. I wondered then how much difference that made; whether we could assemble a large enough, or powerful enough constituency to change marketing policies, although women do most of the buying for themselves and their families. However, it raises the same conundrum. If we are not a large enough, or powerful enough constituency to make a difference, it may be because, in order to become more sensitive to sexism in the public sphere, we have to acknowledge it in the private sphere. How many of us are willing or able to do that?

How strange that 40 years after "The personal is political" became the credo of the women's movement, the political has become all too personal.

###

About the Author: Barbara Cohn Schlachet is a psychologist/psychoanalyst, who is an adjunct clinical supervisor on the faculty of the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. She has worked in community mental health and the Family Court of New York City, while having an independent practice for more than 30 years. She has written numerous articles on issues related to women for professional conferences, scholarly journals and lay publications. Most recently, she delivered an address on Power, Gender and Sexually Transmitted Disease at an international psychoanalytic conference in Capetown, South Africa.

Working under the name of Barbara Bleier, she is also an actor, singer and playwright. She wrote and performed a solo show, Who's Your Mama?, which deals with issues of women aging in America and won a production at the 2007 "Women at Work Festival" in New York. Her play, The Last Hippie, an exploration of 1970's values in a Bush-Cheney era, was recently read at The Players Club in New York. She has been a single parent and is now a grandmother of three. She recently married actor Liam Mitchell.

WMC Reprint & Credit Requirements: The Women's Media Center grants permission to reprint free-of-charge with the understanding that media outlets credit the author of the piece and the Women's Media Center, as in: "by [author's name] for the Women's Media Center (www.womensmediacenter.com)." If the format allows it, please note at the end: "This article was originally posted by The Women's Media Center at www.womensmediacenter.com. The WMC is a non-profit organization founded by Jane Fonda, Gloria Steinem, and Robin Morgan, dedicated to making the female half of the world visible and powerful in the media."

About us:
The Women's Media Center strives to make women visible and powerful in the media. From our founding in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem to our advocacy and media relations work today, we are part of a strong feminist tradition that seeks to hold the media accountable for presenting the world as we know it. Our mission is to ensure that women and women's experiences are reflected in the media just as women are present everywhere in the real world; that women are represented as local, national, and global sources for and subjects of the media; and that women media professionals have equal opportunities for employment and advancement. In addition to the WMC founders, current board members include Loreen Arbus, Cristina Azocar, Jodie Evans, Gloria Feldt, Carol Jenkins, Teresa McBride, Pat Mitchell, Jessica Neuwirth, Rossana Rosado, and Helen Zia. For more information, please visit www.womensmediacenter.com.

It Appears we have the ACLU on our side: DNC protesters heading back to court

By Kevin Vaughan

Originally published 06:51 p.m., July 28, 2008
Updated 06:51 p.m., July 28, 2008

Protesters intent on having their voices heard at the Democratic National Convention head to federal court Tuesday in an effort to win better access to delegates at the Pepsi Center.

But many answers — including how close the protesters will be able to get to Invesco Field at Mile High, where Sen. Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech on the convention's final day — apparently won't come until at least the second week of August.

At issue is a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and more than a dozen protest groups, claiming that plans to force protesters into a fenced-off area in a Pepsi Center parking lot and stop parades several blocks from the arena threaten their free speech rights.

Representatives of Denver and the U.S. Secret Service have argued that the restrictions are necessary to maintain security at the Aug. 25-28 convention. To that end, they established a 47,000-square-foot area for protesters in a Pepsi Center parking lot that at its closest point is 194 feet from the arena and will be surrounded by two fences.

They also established a parade route that ends several blocks from the arena and only allowed parades from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Most delegates will begin arriving at the Pepsi Center around 3 p.m., with events scheduled to begin each day at 4 p.m., DNC officials have said.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger has set aside three hours for each side at Tuesday's trial, with closing arguments scheduled Thursday.

However, she won't consider testimony on the same issues at Invesco Field until Aug. 11. Although an attorney for the city on Monday announced a route for parades that can be held on Aug. 28, the day the convention moves to the football stadium, no decisions have been made about where demonstrators will be allowed to gather there.

At today's hearing, Krieger will listen to testimony on four questions, all related to the first three days of the convention at the Pepsi Center and a parade route that was announced earlier.

Essentially, Krieger will consider whether, in an effort to protect the First Amendment rights of demonstrators, she should:

Reconfigure or move the Pepsi Center protest area.

Redraw the existing parade route to take marchers within "sight and sound" of the Pepsi Center.

Allow a parade down Chopper Circle, right next to the Pepsi Center, on Aug. 24, the day before the convention opens.

Allow a parade through downtown ending at the federal court complex on 19th Street.

© Rocky Mountain News

For Obama, Hurdles in Expanding Black Vote

By Alec MacGillis and Jennifer Agiesta
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, July 28, 2008; A01
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MACON, Ga. -- Amanda Bass, a volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, had already tried once to get Wilmer Gray to register to vote. But when she glimpsed him in a black T-shirt and White Sox cap again on a recent weekday at the main bus stop here, she was determined to give it another try.

This time, Gray, 21, agreed -- but his bus pulled up before he could fill out the form. Bass jumped onboard and persuaded the driver to wait.

"He was someone I'd worked hard to get," said Bass, 19. "I couldn't let him go, not after seeing how far he'd come."

At the heart of the Obama campaign's strategy is a national effort to increase registration and turnout among the millions of Democratic-inclined Americans who have not been voting, particularly younger people and African Americans. The push began during the primaries but expanded this month to a nationwide registration drive led by 3,000 volunteers dispatched around the country.

Gaining greater African American support could well put Obama over the top in states where Democrats have come close in the past two elections, and could also help him retain the big swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan.

If 95 percent of black voters support Obama in November, in line with a recent Washington Post-ABC News national poll, he can win Florida if he increases black turnout by 23 percent over 2004, assuming he performs at the same levels that Democratic candidate John F. Kerry did with other voters that year.

Obama can win Nevada if he increases black turnout by 8 percent. Ohio was so close in 2004 that if Obama wins 95 percent of the black vote, more than Kerry did, he will win the state without a single extra voter. But an increase in overall black turnout could help offset a poorer performance among other voters.

The push has also raised Democrats' hopes of reclaiming Southern states with large black populations, such as Georgia and North Carolina, where low turnout among voters of all races has left much more untapped potential than in traditionally competitive states such as Ohio. Obama, who himself led a huge voter-registration drive in Chicago in 1992, has said he could compete in states such as Mississippi by increasing black turnout by 30 percent.

A Post analysis suggests it will take more than that to win across the South. If Obama matches Kerry's performance among white voters and increases Democrats' share of black voters to 95 percent, he will still need to increase black turnout in Georgia by 64 percent and in Mississippi by 51 percent to win. Virginia and North Carolina would be in closer reach, requiring increases of 30 and 36 percent, respectively.

The drive is unprecedented in scale and exemplifies Obama's call for government that works "from the bottom up." But as Bass's efforts in Georgia show, the undertaking is laden with challenges, raising questions about the kind of return the campaign will get on its big investment of manpower.

Black turnout overall does not lag behind the national average by much, and Obama's rise already inspired many blacks to get involved for the first time during the primaries.

That means that in seeking to further drive up black turnout, the campaign is in many places reaching out to a disconnected segment of the population that long ago gave up hope in politics.

For many of these disengaged people, racial solidarity with Obama does not automatically trump apathy or despair. Even if volunteers manage to get them registered, it will require intensive follow-up to make sure they know where to vote, have the necessary identification and then turn out.

So as Bass, a black Amherst College sophomore from the Chicago suburbs, worked in 93-degree heat to canvass the bus stop in Macon -- which sits in front of a defunct railroad station that still has the words "Colored Waiting Room" etched above an archway -- she had to deploy a full range of tools. She linked the election to local issues such as rising bus fares. She chatted up people even after they said no, hoping to establish a connection for later. She deftly turned the flirtations of young men back to the task at hand.

Latasha Edwards, 20, a college student in lime flip-flops, flatly said that her vote would not make a difference. "There are a million other people on Earth," she said.

But Bass won her over by stressing an inequity in Macon that she said Obama will address: the gap in quality between public schools and the private schools where many white families send their children.

Lorrie Miller, 25, a mother of four who works in the mailroom of the local newspaper, was mostly uninformed about voting, saying she had last voted in the seventh grade, confusing a mock election held in school with the real thing.

Several others averted Bass's gaze, gave her a cold stare when she approached or signaled with a curt "I can't vote" that they are felons, who under Georgia law are not allowed to cast ballots. Bass reminded them that they can register after they finish probation.

She asked Dontrell Rozier, 20, who signed up the week before, how his efforts to register his friends were going. Not well. "Most of my people believe their votes don't count," he said, citing the 2000 election recount in Florida.

Bass's last sign-up of the afternoon was Anthony Harris, 40, a beer deliveryman who said he has never voted because "I'm a religious type. My god can make a positive change for mankind, but I've never seen a politician make a positive change. There's still starvation; there's still war." It took five minutes before he relented.

In three hours, Bass collected 20 registrations -- a good haul. After a month, she and two other volunteers have collected more than 700.

In the area around Macon, an estimated 40,000 African Americans are eligible to vote but are not on the rolls, out of about 600,000 black people in the state who are eligible but unregistered. The campaign's goal is to sign up at least 4,000 in Macon.

With months to go before the Oct. 6 registration deadline, there was an increase of 367 black registered voters in Macon's congressional district in June, compared with 24 white voters. Statewide, the rate of registered African American voters is 28.1 percent, up from 27.2 percent in January.

Bass is aware of the hurdles ahead in turning the registrations into votes, though the campaign has signed up 300 Macon volunteers to assist with that. "It's a monumental challenge," she said. "You see how mentally shackled and jaded people are, because they've seen politicians let them down in the past."

Many political scientists contend that, with exceptions in Virginia and Florida, the Democrats' deficit in the South is too big for Obama to overcome even with a huge increase in black turnout, unless he can also improve on the performance of past Democrats among white Southerners. While Obama is likely to do well among younger whites, they say, the prospect of a surge in black turnout may stoke higher turnout among whites for Sen. John McCain, his Republican rival.

Thomas F. Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, said that it makes sense for Obama to invest some of his considerable resources in the South to force McCain to defend it, but that he sees little hope of victories there. "There's going to be a record number of African Americans turning out," he said. "But the question is whether it will make any difference in these states where Republicans have been winning by double-digit margins."

Steve Hildebrand, Obama's deputy campaign manager, rejects this analysis, saying the political climate is so changed since 2004 that past results are not relevant. At the least, Obama's voter drive will help Democratic candidates down the ballot, now and in the future. And Hildebrand dismissed the prospect of a white counterreaction to an increase in black voters.

But Rep. Jim Marshall, a conservative Democrat whose district includes Macon, appears less confident. He has declined to endorse Obama, and his chief of staff, John Kirincich, was skittish about discussing the benefits that the candidate's push to turn out more black voters would hold for Marshall, who barely won reelection in 2006 and faces another challenge.

Marshall "is not really interested in commenting on the presidential race. It's not his ballgame," Kirincich said. Pressed, he said: "We will accept more people voting for him from [wherever] they come."

Whatever the broader ramifications, they seem distant on the ground. In Columbus, 90 miles west of Macon, several volunteers were recently canvassing a housing project that looks across the Chattahoochee River at Alabama.

Nikasha Wells, 28, a Florida lawyer who took a leave to volunteer, was glad to meet Linda Cross, who was not only registered but also willing to make calls for Obama. Cross, 49, a Wal-Mart employee, said she always votes because of her family's ties to the civil rights movement -- marchers had camped on their land near Selma, Ala.

But next door, Renea Thomas, 27, a janitor and mother of four, was puzzled when Wells asked her to register to vote. "To who?" she said. She has never voted. "I just never thought about it," she said.

Agiesta reported from Washington.

PUMA Action Alert! Tuesday July 29, 2008

Two Actions:
1 - Swing State PUMA Pounce Tuesday July 29
Between the hours of 9am -5pm EST please call the following U.S. Representatives...
#2 - Send a paper crown to the DNC...
[click on 'More' below for more detail...]

More...
1 - Swing State PUMA Pounce Tuesday July 29
Between the hours of 9am -5pm EST please call the following U.S. Representatives.

These Representatives 'represent' Congressional Districts that Hillary Clinton won AND are in states that Clinton also won in the presidential primary-- but they are endorsing Barack Obama. They also reside in swing states and are up for reelection.

Sample Message:

Hello. I am calling to urge (Representative ____) to endorse Hillary Clinton for President at the convention. Hillary won both your district and state. I encourage (Representative _____) to reconsider their endorsement, which is not written in stone until the convention, and to change it to reflect the wishes of their constituents.

(Then respectfully express why you support Hillary over Barack Obama)

* Please note that Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz was formerly a strong Hillary supporter...please thank her for her past support.

Reps in Swing States in Clinton Districts and States - Obama Endorsers

Rep. Joe Donnelly [IN] (202) 225-3915
Rep. Baron Hill [IN] (202) 225-5315
Rep. Bart Stupak [MI] (202) 225-4735.
Patrick Murphy [PA] (202) 225-4276
Rep. Robert Wexler [FL] (202) 225-3001
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz [FL](202) 225-7931
Rep. Ron Klein [FL] (202) 225-3026
Carol Shea-Porter [NH] (202) 225-५४५६

NOTE: If you aren’t a swing state voter – please send this message to someone who is!

#2 - Send a paper crown to the DNC

This one is fun! Make a paper crown or get one at BK or a party store and send it to the DNC.

On the crown write:
OBAMA - SELECTED, NOT ELECTED or
We want a convention, not a coronation!

Add your name and state on the back, along with the words PUMA DEMOCRAT or just PUMA!

As dissenting Dems, we should refuse to pay for Obama's coronation...but we are generous...we will be happy to supply him an appropriate prop for his next photo op!
Mail to:

DNC Chairman Howard Dean
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
202-863-8000


Keep Fighting!

"'You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.''

~ James Thurber