I would imagine

That Conlin is going to absolutely hammer Grassley on his Lilly Ledbetter no vote.  I don't necessarily consider myself a feminist, but I just don't understand how somebody can be against something as fair and just as equal pay for equal work.  


23, Male, Democrat, OH-13

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by: StephenCLE @ Fri May 28, 2010 at 17:27:10 PM UTC

Side issue

But anyone who believes in equality under the law between men and women is a feminist, and the fact that "feminist" has become a dirty word and so many people say "I'm not a feminist but support equal rights for women," and similar things, sticks in my craw.

Here are dictionary definitions of feminism from dictionary.com:

1. the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter) an organized movement for the attainment of such rights for women.

Do you still consider yourself not necessarily a feminist?

I think that the denigration of the word "feminist" as something dirty is problematic politically, and in policy terms, to Democrats - especially those who call themselves "progressive" in large part because "liberal" has been made so "dangerous" - in somewhat the same way that the denigration of "liberal" is - as in: "I'm not a liberal; I'm really a moderate but support a, b, c, x, y, and z that are all left/liberal programs. But I won't call myself a liberal because that's a bad word."

No offense intended, and I hope none given.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

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by: Pan @ Fri May 28, 2010 at 21:04:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Very well articulated

One of the things that the Frank Luntzs of the world have done successfully is demonize words that are naturally good things. The word "liberal" essentially means freedom. It's sad that people run away from it.


NY-14, DC-AL (college) Distraught Mets fan

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by: nycyoungin @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 15:59:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

she will

I saw her speak a few months ago, and I'm pretty sure she mentioned that in her stump speech.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Fri May 28, 2010 at 22:15:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Makes me think of a Bob Barr ad.

In 2002, Democrats gerrymandered Barr into a district with John Linder.  One of the ads from Barr brought up Barr's apparent lack of a sense of humor.  Some phrases I remember:

"He never smiles.  He's like a bulldog."
"Terrorism is daydly [that's how it was pronounced] series."
"The morals in this country are in serious trouble."
"My high taxes are a serious problem."

Worked really well.  Or not.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

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by: TheUnknown285 @ Fri May 28, 2010 at 21:32:46 PM UTC

I take it, Linder won? n/t

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

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by: Pan @ Fri May 28, 2010 at 22:08:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yep, 64.5% to 35.5%

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

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by: TheUnknown285 @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 02:27:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

As a Conlin supporter

Roxanne is going to have to promise to have impeccable constituent services in order to convince your independent/swing voter that she is worthy of taking over this seat.  

Please donate to amcharities.org to help build more after school centers in the Miami area.  

23, Democrat, IA-2

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by: ModerateIADem @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 02:11:22 AM UTC

true

I think the biggest hurdle for her is the sheer number of Iowans who have been helped by Grassley's office at some time in the last 30 years.

I know someone who gave Chet Culver money in 2006 in large part because of constituent service Senator John Culver provided to him in the 1970s (a helpful letter to the right government official). I am not kidding.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 02:40:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think it's a Midwestern thing.

Lots of people in Indiana support Evan Bayh because they have good memories of Birch Bayh, not because Evan Bayh has ever actually done anything for them.

Of course, part of it in our case could be buyer's remorse for getting rid of arguably the most effective Indiana Senator of the 20th century in exchange for a right-wing nutjob who was so stupid he couldn't even spell "potato", and conveniently moved to Arizona when being from Muncie was no longer politically expedient for him.

Grassley talks the folksy talk pretty well, which is why he's still around. Unless he trips himself up with too much negativity at the wrong time (which I think he's smart enough not to do), I'm betting he wins comfortably, even if he has to campaign a lot harder than usual.

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by: notanothersonofabush @ Tue Jun 01, 2010 at 14:57:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's a good intro spot......

Good ad.  Nothing memorable, but good enough to do its job.  It's about trying to remind people who've always voted for Grassley why they've liked him, and tie it into current voter concerns about government spending.

Conlin's ad, which I saw but didn't before comment on, also was a good intro piece for her needs.

They're both smart not to mention each other yet.  Iowans will get pissed to see 5-6 months of attack ads.  Best to wait until late summer for that.

Grassley, by the way, ran attack ads on Jean Lloyd-Jones in 1992 even as he was coasting to a landslide, so he's not shy even when not seriously threatened.  I don't know if he did the same in 1998 or 2004 as I lived in D.C. those years and I wouldn't have paid attention to what were easy reelections for him, but based on 1992 alone you can bet Grassley will hit Conlin hard eventually this year.

I'll be curious to see what attack narrative Conlin settles on in hitting Grassley.  I think there are a variety of very different approaches, and I can't begin to guess what would be most effective.  And how she defends herself against Grassley's attacks is, I think, even more important than what she says about Grassley.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

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by: DCCyclone @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 18:42:43 PM UTC

I was out of the country in 1992

and had no idea Grassley ran attack ads on Jean Lloyd-Jones. Wow.  What were they, tax and spend liberal stuff?

Conlin seems to be planning a "he works for special interests" narrative. Last fall when she announced plans to run, she also suggested that Grassley wasn't acting in good faith when he pretended to be working on a health care reform compromise and then sent out a fundraising letter promising to block "Obamacare." She said something like, that wasn't the Grassley she thought she knew. That point may come back later, because the double-dealing really undercut Grassley's "straight talker" image.

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by: desmoinesdem @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 19:00:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't remember and never actually saw them, I talked to the campaign manager and...

...she told me after the election that Grassley did that.  I don't even remember the campaign manager's name anymore, although I vaguely recall her first name was Ellen?  She later got some prominent Iowa-based federal position in the Clinton Administration, maybe in USDA or something.

Anyway, only after the election when I talked to her she mentioned it to me in passing with dismay, complaining Grassley was way ahead the whole time and never had to do that.  I didn't respond to that, but remember thinking it was fair game, you run for office and your opponent has a right to attack you--there's no rule that says you're "immune" until you get close enough to threaten.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

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by: DCCyclone @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 19:49:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh, and a little more context about me in 1992......

I was in law school at Duke in those years, but I spent summer 1992 working as a summer clerk at the Bradshaw Fowler law firm in downtown Des Moines, and I spent nights and weekends volunteering for Lloyd-Jones.  So that was my connection, and I had to return to school in early August, before anyone was airing ads in the Senate race.  That's why I didn't see any ads.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

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by: DCCyclone @ Sat May 29, 2010 at 19:51:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

hmmm

maybe Lynn Cutler?

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by: desmoinesdem @ Sun May 30, 2010 at 01:20:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

No, LOL, not nearly that well-known!......

Cutler is a well-known figure in Iowa politics.

Lloyd-Jones' campaign manager was no such thing.  She was a very smart and accomplished lady, but never nearly as prominent as Cutler.  Cutler was way too accomplished by 1992 to have been a day-to-day campaign manager that cycle.

I'm pretty sure I'd recognize her name in a heartbeat if I saw it in print, and again, I vaguely recall her first name was Ellen.  But alas, I can't remember her last name off the top of my head.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

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by: DCCyclone @ Sun May 30, 2010 at 04:14:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]