The Divided Majority
September 29, 2008
by Amy Siskind
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There is a simple reason why we have no power.
Women voters account for 52% of the votes cast in our country, yet we are largely divided by our party affiliation and by choice.
The issue of reproductive rights slices our power in half. Two polls were released in May 2007 asking Americans, “With respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?” A CNN poll found 45% said pro-choice and 50% said pro-life. Within the following week, a Gallup poll found 49% responding pro-choice, and 45% pro-life. (*)
In presidential elections, there has been a gender gap in every election since 1980.
For example, in the 2004 election, men favored Bush by 14 points, while women favored Kerry by 3 points. In 2000, men favored Bush by 11 points, while women favored Gore by 11 points. (*)
Did the Democrats deserve to get a larger share of women’s votes?
- A total of 33 women have held cabinet or cabinet-level appointments. 16 were appointed by Democratic Presidents, 17 were appointed by Republican presidents
- In 2008, 71 women hold seats in Congress: 51 are Democrats, 20 are Republicans. In total, women hold 16.3% of congressional seats.
- In 2008, 16 women hold seats in the Senate: 11 are Democrats, 5 are Republicans. In total, women hold 16% of senate seats.
- The Democratic Party has selected 1 woman to run as Vice President. The Republican Party has selected 1 woman to run as Vice President.
- The Democratic Party has never run a woman for President. The Republican Party has never run a woman for President.
This puts the U.S. in 69th place in the world for women in politics.
What can we do to correct this? It’s really quite simple. We need to create a voting block and work together as women. As the recent UN Study shows, when women hold positions in government, women’s issues are brought forward and dealt with.
We need to leave partisanship and choice aside and work together. When we can exercise the power of our full 52%, we will no longer be the divided majority.
If woman ever want to see one of their own reside in the OVA-L office, then something needs to change, really change. But the kind of change that needs to be made cannot be forwarded by either Barack Obama or John McCain.
Real change will have to come through the efforts of American women, who must find a way to unite and stop fighting against each other in The Egg War.
The Egg War? The war between women over a women’s right to choose, the subject once again in the foreground of our presidential debate and the War very much escalating since John McCain named the anti-abortion Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. (Since both sides of the issue are Pro-Life, I will not use that term for either side).
Once again American women find themselves having to weigh their vote for our next President within the framework of where they stand on the controversial abortion issue. Advocates for the right to choose, of course, favor Obama-Biden and anti-choice women favor McCain-Palin.
Since the passing of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, The Egg War has had a key role in women’s politics. Women speak to other issues in the political narrative, but the deciding factor in casting their ballot for president is the future of Roe vs. Wade.
This is counterproductive to the ability of women to garner power in Washington, as well as in their personal lives. One can argue that the good ol’ boy’s network likes to keep The Egg War alive if for no other reason than it divides women and allows men to keep control of the political dialogue. Both political parties’ have been complicit in the promulgation of The Egg War.
To read the rest: http://www.thecjpoliticalrepor.....gg_war.htm
I can certainly appreciate this sentiment. I would agree that abortion is the issue that divides us more than any other. Until this changes, a united voting block of women will be impossible.
I had a friend who once said to me that she was pro-life because “that was the choice she had made”, meaning she had chosen to give birth. I was astounded. Especially her phrasing – it was her “choice”. First of all, how would she have felt if the choice hadn’t been hers? I explained to her that “pro-choice” did not mean “pro-abortion”. It was like a light bulb went off over her head – she had never thought of it that way.
How do you resolve this issue when it is at the very heart of our rights that have been so hard won for us? Earning the vote got the ball rolling. WWII proved that women can step up and do the same work as men. Reproductive freedom through birth control and access to abortion felt like the clencher, the last straw that made us unstoppable. Equal pay continues to be an issue, but I believe we can continue to work toward achieving that goal without sacrificing what we’ve already achieved.
There is no front running candidate right now that is a poster child for promoting women’s rights. Not any of them. But at least one side isn’t actively promoting a course of policy that would take away the ones we’ve already earned.
How can we continue to move forward on other issues if we cave on this one? That makes no sense to me.
I would almost recommend starting a 3rd party – the Women’s Party but if women can’t even unite to oppose the blatant sexism directed at Sarah Palin and to a much lesser extent Hillary Clinton, forget about it.
great article. yeah, it’s pretty much an even split, and what makes things worse is that at the center is an issue–abortion rights–that’s always been couched as all or nothing at all.
When I read this I laughed–but not in a good way. It was the sad laughter that comes from seeing someone being blindly partisan.
” blatant sexism directed at Sarah Palin and to a much lesser extent Hillary Clinton,”
The sexism directed at Hilary Clinton was to a much lesser extent?
I hope against hope it wasn’t a woman writing that.
biteoftheweek:
email me!
john4hillary at gmail dot com
I think this group could do amazing things. More importantly women uniting together for the common good of women. Our personal lives could have a huge change if women were empowered in political office. We really have to put the abortion issue aside though because we will never agree on that. We cannot vote on that one issue. Some of the earlier comments were talking about not being able to put the issue aside. You cannot unite women without doing that. You will alienate women on one side which is about 1/2 of women and just create another NOW group which is clearly not non partisan. Together we can accomplish so much for ourselves and our daughters if we just focus on what we do agree on.
IF WOMEN REALLY WANT PARITY THEY MUST BE ABLE TO
ACCEPT THE FACT THAT WE CANNOT AGREE ON EVERTHING….AND WE ALL DONT S H A R E THE SAME
BELIEF SYSTEM….
UNTIL THEN WE ARE JUST SPINNING OUR WHEELS…
THE MOVEMENT LOST ITS WAY WHEN CERTAIN GROUPS
WD ONLY SUPPOT PC CANDIDATES…THIS IS 2008 AND THE THE EGG WAR MAKES WOMEN LOOK LIKE AORTION
NAZIS….NOT A GOOD IMAGE….MUCH RETHINKNG IS NECESSARY…O WE WILL ALWAYS BE 52% OF NOTHING…
CLEMENTINA
[...] our country in an embarrassing 69th rank worldwide for women in politics. As long as we are a divided majority, we will have no [...]
[...] somewhat revolutionary concepts came about for good reason: women in this country have become a divided majority, and as such, we have no power. So long as political alliance and choice can be used to divide us, [...]
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