An Open Letter to Senator McCain

Dear Senator McCain,

This week you have lashed out against the "Feminist Left." I understand your frustration. You see that women are not flocking to the McCain/Palin ticket and you don't understand why. Allow me to illuminate you.

The truth is, Senator McCain, your candidacy is the worst for women in recent history. You thought that women would vote for you once you put a woman on your ticket. But women aren't fooled by this tactic. Women, Senator McCain, vote on issues important to us, not on whether or not the candidate wears a skirt.

The problem, Senator McCain, is your voting record, platform, and policies. You have consistently voted wrong on issues that directly impact American women's bank accounts, personal liberties and health.

• You voted 19 times against increasing the minimum wage (the majority of minimum wage earners are women) - before you finally voted for it because it included business tax cuts. You voted to gut the Family and Medical Leave act - and you oppose expanding its coverage.

• You oppose the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would restore women's ability to fight wage discrimination in the courts - telling women our problem was that we needed to get more education and training.

• You voted NO on the Violence Against Women Act and NO on funding for the Office of Violence Against Women.

• You voted NO on starting the Army's Breast Cancer Research Program which has funded hundreds of millions in breast cancer research. You voted NO on reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program and supported Bush's veto.

• You oppose a woman's right to choose, and your running mate Sarah Palin opposes legal abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

• You voted to terminate federal funds for family planning and you have ducked questions on contraceptive insurance discrimination.

• You have stated that you admire the voting records of Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and John Roberts, and have stated that you would like to put Justices like them - Justices who want to overturn Roe v. Wade - on the Supreme Court.

We have compared the votes and platforms of Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin on women's issues and the record is clear. No matter how you look at it - Obama/Biden score close to 100% and McCain/Palin approach a zero on women's rights and issues.

If credit should be given for consistency, you deserve such credit when it comes to voting against women's interests. Twenty-six years of voting against women's rights and issues and you think women, when given a clear choice, won't notice?

Eleanor Smeal is the President of The Feminist Majority. Her analysis of the candidates' records on women's issues can be found at www.feministsforobama.org.

Comments

[Marcia G. Yerman - Huffpost Blogger]

Let's talk dollars and cents. The Economists' Policy Group on Women's Issues (http://ww­w;epgwi.or­g)
gave McCain an overall grade of D and Obama an overall grade of B on ten issues it described as
"vital to American women."

Women live longer than men, and are poorer than men. They don't need John McCain to make
sure their economic status remains dismal.

[realspirited]

I couldn't agree more! And it's been a cheap shot against women everywhere.

[JAMES GORMAN]

ELEANOR IS RIGHT AGAIN--my favorite voice (and body) on the McLaughlin Group--McCain is in
fact simply using Palin as a "gender pawn"==and he was convinced that simply placing a being there
with mammal facilities, would create a feminist rush to the ballot box under McC banners. NOt so.
Women know what McCain's record is--and what his "ethics" amounts too--equal pay, stem cell,
abortion, name it--and women are mere entities to fit his purposes in attracting the decaying Bush
base--all the Republicans have.
At least the signs are that few women are moving "Mickey's
way---and we are discovering again that the majority of Republican women are middles class--and the majority would not overurn Roe vs Wade even to preserve the 600 to trillion in tax breaks that the
comfortable feminist now enjoys. Goreman 12

[Overd0g]

It's not the government's job to negotiate your wage for you.

[lvdragonlady]

You missed the point there 'overdog'. It was talking about same pay for same work......­.historica­lly if a man and woman are both qualified for a job, the man will get higher wages then the woman with the same qualifications.

Do you get it now?

[FirstShirt]

Given that several NOW women support Sarah maybe you are wrong? And some of them are democrat and will remain democrat.

[Lemeritus]

Who are these members of NOW? I hate to be parochial, but this is the first I've heard of members of NOW supporting the Republican ticket... although, of course, it's conceivable individual members can be supportive of a woman reaching the top of a political ticket (in the abstract).

Kim Grady of NOW on Palin:

"Gov. Palin may be the second woman vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket, but she is not the right woman. Sadly, she is a woman who opposes women's rights, just like John McCain.

"....as the chair of NOW's Political Action Committee, I am frequently asked whether NOW supports women candidates just because they are women. This gives me an opportunity to once again answer that question with an emphatic 'No.'"

[spinmas]

Very good article, you should do a video reading this and put it on youtube!!!

[Spesabsquemetu]

Eleanor, maybe you should send this letter to NOW.
I think they could use a good read on some critical issues for women.

[pg44]

Thank you, Eleanor. A recent survey showed that about HALF of all women don't know the truth about John McCain. They buy into the idea that he is a moderate and, therefore, must be supportive of women. Unfortunately, that couldn't be further from the truth. He is the candidate who puts women's health in air quotes.

I'm doing everything I can to spread the word and get women to vote for the candidates who will stand up for them: Obama-Biden.

p.s. I live in Virginia, and I have already voted.

[fromero]

The five former secretaries of state who endorsed McCain--Henry Kissinger, James Baker, George Shultz, Alexander Haig, and Lawrence Eagleburge­r--declare­d their endorsement back in January 2008, seven months before McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. So the question arises: Would these reputable statesmen have endorsed McCain had they known who his running mate would be? Have they made public their opinion of Sarah Palin? Can we assume, if they were asked today, that they would say she's qualified to serve as VP?

C. Navarro

[FirstShirt]

You are voting for President, not the VP. So choose between McCain with the experience or on the job training with Barry.

[iv64]

Please read the article. It is about McCain's experience and how he voted on women's issues. Not about voting for VP but about covering a terrible track record with a VP choice.

[woodchips]

Given McCain's age and health history, a vote for him is, quite possibly, a vote for a Palin Presidency.

[Oregon Ivy]

And he also called his wife the "c" word in front of reporters. Shows you how much respect he has for women.

Oh, and let's not forget his "air quotes" around "health" of the mother in debate #3!!!

[jesaisquoi]

We also cannot forget the "getting raped by a bear" joke that defines his sense of humor.

[bammato3]

Why don't all of us talk to our mothers and grandmothers and ask them what women use to do before there was legal and safe abortions. How they had to go to back alleys to hack doctors. You see ...Rich women will always be able to get abortions legal or not. But is the poor women that once again would be the ones to suffer. I am so tired of the republican party using women to further their agenda. People also forget that if we didn't have liberals ,we women wouldn't be doing alot of things , let alone voting. Why are we the only country that seems to be going backwards. The over turning of Roe v Wade will set women back to a place I dont' really think many of you have thought about. McCain and Palin are VERY DANGEROUS to this country.This is only one subject of many that we all need to realy think about. OBAMA/BIDEN I like making MY own choices!!!

[Jason404]

Phew - I didn't know that McCain was *that* bad on women's issues. I thought he was supposed to be a moderate Republican, and therefore, not that bad.

I did not know that Obama and Biden were that good either, on women's issues, but very pleased to hear so. Holistic decency..

[slytot7]

Eleanor Smeal: Inspite of everything you have stated, inspite of the fact that eveything you have stated is true, 45% of of women(mostly white) are supporting McCain. What does that tell you?

[ponderingmuch]

It tells me that 45% of women jsut don't make any sense to me.

I would like to understand them. I know they do not make a whole lot of money and that McCain will cause them to have even less.

Why do you think that 45% (mind you, I am taking your word for that percentage..I dunno what the real one is) would support a man opposed to equal pay, who sneers, even in a debate, at the notion that a woman's health might, indeed, be threatened by an unwanted pregnancy?

[K-wak]

I can provide a *little* bit of insight and one data point... My niece is a hard-line Republican. 23-going-on-12 (not because of her political affiliation, but because of her maturity). She asked that my wife and I "not shame us" by voting for Obama. Told her "sorry, but prepare to be shamed, then". I asked her why she's voting for McCain/Palin. Overarching reason: McCain/Palin "are both working to support what the Bible teaches" (for her that means anti- abortion and anti-homosexuality, the rest of the stuff like compassion, charity, honesty, fidelity, etc. ... eh, whatever). She gave six specific reasons, and I'll summarize them:

1) She thinks ALL abortion should be illegal. Period. And that McCain/Palin will support getting it there.
2) She thinks that homosexuality is an immoral choice, and that McCain/Palin will prevent gay marriages.
3) She thinks that Obama will raise her taxes (and thinks the only reason is for health care), and that she'd rather pay her own medical care out of her pocket than "get taxed out the door" (whatever that means).
4) McCain has more experience than Obama.
5) She thinks Obama is hiding something with all his "his affiliates (and then ex-affiliates)"
6) She thinks Obama is a Muslim.

[FirstShirt]

"It tells me that 45% of women jsut don't make any sense to me."

Feminism has succeeded, Women can now think for themselves without feeling like they must vote the Party line.

[txkayrose]

My brother and sister-in-law are both apparently voting for JM/SP and I have no idea why. They both hold masters degrees and (I would have said) have a sense of social conscience. But... they probably make over 250K, combined, and may be affected by Obama's tax policy. That is the only reason I can come up with.
They are both fairly strong-willed and I know the idea of pulling oneself up by ones' bootstraps has always been pushed in both families. For my brother & me, there was also compassion for the guy who had no boots.
I don't get it either.

[onlyred]

Let's see a link to back up this absolutely ludicrous statement. Hmm?

I'm a white woman, 41 years old. You can bet your sweet patooty I'm not voting for him or that woman. It's an insult to women everywhere that he put her on the ticket to bribe us. I think more than 55% of women are smart enough to notice and respond to it. If they aren't, well.. won't we see on 11/4?

[FirstShirt]

So no democratic women voted for Hillary because she was a woman?

[texanna]

45% of women?! Are you sure about that? Please provide a link or something to support this assertion. Otherwise, I'm going to presume that you misread some information and it's actually 45% of women who don't have any beta waves in their EEG; or 45% of women who are required to wear a chastity belt by their husbands when same are not at home; or 45% of women who never completed the 3rd grade AND whose family tree has only one side of the tree; or...

[FirstShirt]

Do you include Hillary? She said McCain was qualified to be President and Obama was scary.

[wmfor]

Hey, Joe the (unlicenses) Plumber still thinks that Obama is going to raise his taxes, even though it is absolutely false, because---­because... well, the Republicans SAID so when they interviewed him on Fox news, didn't they? And have they ever led him astray before?

[bear91]

Eleanor,
thank you thank you thank you.

I just hope the pundits will read this on their broadcasts so the people who need to hear it will.

[ginmemphis6]

Civil rights? Fair wages? Health coverage? Why worry about serious issues when we can have cuteness?

Many, many people do not think about serious issues -- and many who do are still swayed by superficial impressions. For that purpose, choosing Palin was very clever: She's pretty, which means a) she can say anything and get away with it, and b) her picture is plastered everywhere.

I just counted 10 pictures of Palin on the front page of Huffington Post, plus her husband, children, and stimulating articles on her hair and clothing.

[SeanGardner]

"I just counted 10 pictures of Palin on the front page of Huffington Post, plus her husband, children, and stimulating articles on her hair and clothing."

But most of those articles are not flattering. Unless most of the articles are positive, then I don't see, apropo Palin, how the QUANTITY (of pictures) translates into QUALITY.

[torrrep]

That's funny. All the women I know have the same civil rights that I have. They have the same wages that I have and they have the same medical care coverage. If someone isn't paying you fairly then you have the right to quit and find a new job.

[NotMcCain]

:You know the wages and medical coverage of all the women you know?

[rsaillant1]

torrep:

Firstly, there is nothing funny about these serious issues.

We commend you for your depth of knowledge where it
concerns the wages and medical coverage of you and your friends,

Secondly, I assure you each of us is aware that we can quit a job....
Now, finding new employment might be a little more difficult these days.

Having dealt with the issues/comments you raise, can you get back to
the subject at hand and defend, if you can, John McCain's voting
record as it pertains to women.....­..........­..........­..........­...we'll wait.

[wild1a]

There are millions of workers that are not treated fairly and have little or no medical coverage. Perhaps you have not paid attention to the continuing hundreds of thousands of lay offs. If a person is lucky enough to have a job I doubt that that person will gratuitously quit and go looking for another one in this job climate. You should watch the news and read the papers.

[wmfor]

Sounds like a good old laissez-faire republican. Why should the Government be in the business of... oh, monitoring epidemics, when after enough time all the sick people will die off and "the market will correct itself".