Opinion: NOW’s political PAC says no to Sarah Palin (while avoiding broaching her name)
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On the one hand, it is an endorsement that comes as no surprise.
On the other hand, the decision by NOW’s political arm to officially embrace the Democratic presidential ticket is a step out of the ordinary -- traditionally, the group does not announce a pick in the fight for the White House.
Kim Gandy, the president of the 42-year-old National Organization for Women, in a statement released Tuesday, called it ‘very unusual’ for the group’s political action committee ‘to endorse in a presidential election.’ But referring to Barack Obama, she added, ‘this is an unprecedented candidate and an unprecedented time for our country.’
The statement, after detailing specific policy areas in which Obama’s record squares with NOW’s agenda, offers this summary:
For more than a decade, Barack Obama has said ‘yes’ to women’s rights, while John McCain has consistently said ‘no’ -– NO to pay equity, NO to contraceptive access and reproductive rights, NO to appointing Supreme Court judges who will uphold women’s rights and civil rights, NO to funding shelters and other anti-violence programs, and NO to supporting working moms and dads with policies that support work/life balance.
In the statement that supports the ticket that does not include a women while turning its back on the one that does, no mention is made of Sarah Palin.
On a similar note, Obama running mate Joe Biden gets an approving nod in a lengthy New Republic article reviewing his record on women’s issues.
Writer Fred Strebeigh notes that since Biden got tapped for the vice presidential slot, he ‘has been pitted against women, first taking the job that many Hillary Clinton supporters felt was her due, then facing off against another historic woman, Sarah Palin, who could become the first female vice president of the United States. ... But the irony of this assessment is that Biden has some of the best feminist bona fides around.’
-- Don Frederick