Does Every Woman Really Count?

Every Woman Counts is a campaign sponsored by the Lifetime Network that is supposedly geared toward increasing the participation of women in the political process, encouraging more women to vote and to increase the national spotlight on issues that are important to women.

I'm certainly all for any organized effort to get women's voices heard above the din of political shouting, but I'm not sure the recent Lifetime Every Woman Counts poll is really getting us down that road.

Recent questions included:

1. Which candidate would you rather receive a gift from?

2. Which candidate would you be most comfortable leaving your children with?

3. Which candidate would you most like to have dinner with over the holiday season?

What the ... ???

If Lifetime was really committed to making sure that every woman's vote counts, why are they spending money to have a poll taken on these silly questions? And publicizing them doesn't really give a lot of street cred to its stated efforts to highlight priorities of women voters and building a stronger presence in highlighting where the candidates stand.

What do questions like this add to the "political dialogue" other than making politicians think that we care more about popularity contests than health care or the environment?

Any effort to energize women to take more ownership of their political voices is fantastic in my opinion. So why cheapen the effort by doing a poll that insinuates we're more concerned about whether Hillary would be a thoughtful gift-giver or whether Rudy would be a good baby-sitter?

If we really want to count and be counted, let's not provide any more ammunition for the politicians to think that we're not serious voters.

You can read more of Joanne's political punditry at PunditMom and PunditMom's Spin Cycle.

Comments

[punditmom]

Martha, thanks for the comment. "Joanne and Rachel" did their homework. We are well aware of efforts Lifetime TV has made. But having said that, was it really necessary to insert these kinds of questions into the poll, thereby making it suspect in the eyes of others? What was the point of these "fun" questions? This type of poll only serves to make us look like we are not serious about our politics.

[marthaburk]

Joanne and Rachael need to do their homework. Lifetime's poll was in fact a very serious poll covering women's voting behavior, why women do or do not vote, and factors such as having a woman in the race increasing the likelihood of women going to the polls. These aspects of the poll were covered extensively in the press -- the "fun" questions were in fact released by Lifetime after the serious questions had been reported and analyzed. So do your homework and lighten up!

[prochange]

This is how people are supposed to elect their leader? It is having a beer with a dry drunk all over again.

The CNN question about pearls and diamonds fell right into that category. The young lady actually wanted to ask about Yucca Mountain, but she was made to ask that silly question. Like she could not afford all the pearls and diamonds she wants.

The three a.m. questions are a typical example of the relentless effort to dumb down America.
None of the questions has anything to do with the qualification for the job of a president.

[PTLawMom]

If, as the first poster says, candidates want to get women to vote, they need to listen to PunditMom and treat us like serious people with serious opinions. I could care less if Hillary bares her breasts draped in pearls with full-on southern hair at noon on a Wednesday if she can't effectively represent the nation on issues that matter to me and my family and friends. Women are a huge base and catering to us with fluffy questions doesn't help us at all. Come to our events, seek out women bloggers with huge audiences (like PunditMom), and treat us like our questions and experiences matter and make a difference.

[Halsey]

3. Which candidate would you most like to have dinner with over the holiday season

jeezus mary joseph...are you friggin kidding me?
We got BUSH cause people wanted to have a beer with him...(okay..O'Douls for W).... how about asking."which candidate do you trust with his/her finger on THE BUTTON to man-made armageddeon? but then again..look at the tragic, Jaclyn Smith overcomes obstacles (or Valerie Bertinelli..et al)...

Can you provide a link to the powers that be at lifetime...so I can give them a piece of my pink and frilly brain?

[Tellmethetruth]

The Democrats need to work as hard as they can to get out the woman's vote, the Latino vote, and the African American vote - that will guarantee a Democratic majority in Congress and hopefully a President - then real change can finally come to this country.

It will take work.

What are the options - Republican President and Democrat with slim majority in congress and another 2 to 4 years of a do nothing congress or president - we can't allow that to happen to this country.

We have to have candidates that can win - Joe Biden, Richardson, Dodd, andyes Hillary can win in November. Obama and Edwards have no resume' and no record to run on which is why they are both wasting everyone's time with trivial attacks on Hillary, because they have not passed any bills into law, have nothing in their background to indicate any leadership necessary to be president.

Joe Biden can win!

[dgscol]

Dear Bambinos : The media often assume you are fairly stupid, but it is not a sexual thing. They think most men are close to having the mentality of a world wrestler.

If you think otherwise, you should let them know. You could probably contact some of the striking writers. They are more attentive now than they will ever be.

[Hattie]

Diamonds or pearls?
I want to see Hillary Clinton cream her opponents!