BLOGS BY BOB

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In the June 23, 2008 issue of Newsweek Magazine, Anna Quindlen writes, “….everyone suggests you’d better pay close attention to us (middle-aged white women) since we are used to being chronologically overlooked, and we’re a little steamed about that fact (www.newsweek.com).” Steamed, says I, may be putting it a tad too mildly.  Women I have heard from are, “Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.”

 

They are frustrated and rightly so, their champion, Hillary Clinton, was defeated, shuffled away and not heard from since.  Many Hillary supporters have vowed to vote for Senator John McCain in protest.  Senator Obama is likely to get most of the women’s vote but he will not get it automatically.  He has to work for it, and calling women “Sweetie” as he did a female reporter recently, did not endear him to many of the feminine persuasion.  Obama must pay more than “lip service,” to women’s issues.

 

McCain, though, has a tougher row to hoe.  Simply put, he is no friend of “right” thinking women.  Want reasons?  Here are just a few:

 

      McCain supports overturning Roe v. Wade.  In February 2007, the Associated Press (AP) quoted McCain as stating, “I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned.” In May 2007, he reiterated his desire to overturn Roe v. Wade during an appearance on Meet the Press. Since 1983, in votes in the House and the Senate (where he has served since 1987), McCain has cast 130 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues, 125 of these votes were anti-choice. www.prochoiceamerica.org/assets/files/mccain_fact_sheet.pdf

 

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      McCain is an antagonist of sensible family planning and effective sex education. In 2005, he voted “no” on a $100-million allocation for preventive health care services targeted at reducing unintended pregnancies, especially teen pregnancies.

 

      In 2006, he voted against funding for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education for teens.

 

The Arizona Senator is much more comfortable with President Bush’s wasteful and utterly ineffective abstinence-only approach.   The New York Times Web site reported the following exchange with a reporter in Iowa in March 2007 www.nytimes.com:

 

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”

McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

McCain” — “uhhh, you stumped me.”

 

According to the Obama Website http://www.barackoblogger.com/2008/06/john-mccains-record-on-womens-issues.html

 

      McCain opposed the Equal Pay Bill for Women, He said, “They need education and training’ Instead.

      McCain skipped a vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that would ensure women have the opportunity to recover back pay for discrimination once they discover it. [Source: aflcio.org; H.R. 2831, Vote 110, 4/23/08; Associated Press, 4/28/08]

 

There is no limit to the number of anti-women votes McCain has cast and if you get into children’s and senior’s legislation the list of transgressions gets even longer.  McCain truly is the third act of the Bush administration. 

 

So, women, forget about your feelings being hurt by the sexism, shoddy news coverage and other slights suffered by Hilary Clinton.  Staying home or voting for McCain is not the way to protest.  The way to protest is to work even harder.  Put pressure on Obama, too, make him reflect your views in his campaign.  That is the way you will make an impression, that is the way you will reach the goals for which you have fought so hard.  Throwing your hands in the air and not voting or voting for McCain is saying, “I give up.”  Do you?

 

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