EMILY's List puts five GOP frosh 'on notice'

[Geee]

The Hill:

The Democratic group EMILY's List launched its first wave of 2012 politicking on Tuesday, serving "notice" against five GOP freshmen that they would be targeted for reelection.

EMILY's List, a group dedicated to supporting Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights, selected a set of five Republicans, each from different states, and each of whom have a major, Democratic woman candidate to have entered the race.

Reps. Charlie Bass (N.H.), Chip Cravaack (Minn.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Joe Heck (Nev.) and Allen West (Fla.) were the five GOP lawmakers put "on notice."

“These Republican freshmen ran saying they’d focus on jobs,” said EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock. “But when they got to office they pulled a bait-and-switch on voters. Instead of creating jobs, they’ve worked tirelessly on an anti-woman, anti-family agenda that takes away women’s rights and freedoms.

All five of the Republicans represent competitive districts and are sure to face top-tier challengers.

[Sanguine]

Well, it may be a good thing to have the battle lines so clearly revealed.

 

We've got a lot of work to do.

[SrWoodchuck]

Interesting facts on the founder of Emily's List, her political connections & financing:

 

 

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

 

Ellen R. Malcolm

 

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EMILY's List President and Founder

 

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Born February 2, 1947(1947-02-02)

 

Ellen R. Malcolm (born February 2, 1947) is an activist who has had a long career in American politics, particularly in political fundraising. She is an heiress of one of the founders of IBM.

 

Malcolm attended Montclair Kimberley Academy, graduating in the class of 1965.[1] After graduating from Hollins College in 1969, she worked for Common Cause in the 1970s. She was a press secretary for National Women's Political Caucus and later Esther Peterson, special assistant for consumer affairs in the Carter administration. She went on to found EMILY's List,[2] a political advocacy organization which supports the election of pro-choice, female Democrats to public office, and was president of America Coming Together.[3] In 2007 she served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton's election campaign.[2], in 2010 she was appointed to the National Park Foundation Board of Directors.

 

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

 

America Coming Together (ACT) was a liberal, political action, 527 group dedicated to get-out-the-vote activities. ACT did not specifically endorse any political party, but mostly worked on behalf of Democratic candidates. It was the largest 527 group in 2004 and was planning to be involved in future races. The group was primarily funded by Peter Lewis, George Soros, and labor unions, especially the Service Employees International Union, and was led by Steve Rosenthal, a former political director of the AFL-CIO.

 

In the last three weeks before the 2004 presidential and congressional elections, ACT planned on funding over 12 million phone calls to targeted voters and having canvassers hand-deliver 11 million pieces of literature at targeted doorsteps. On Election Day, ACT had projected to have 45,000 paid canvassers in the battleground states and spent over $10 million on Election Day. It had 86 offices open every day, a staff of 4000 and a goal of reinforcing the army of 45,000 paid canvassers with 25,000 volunteers.

 

In the fall of 2004, ACT was featured in the Frontline Documentary, The Persuaders, which described ACT's use of narrowcasting.

 

In 2005 ACT was in the process of being wound down.[1] Its website was not renewed and is no longer operational.

 

The Federal Election Commission announced on August 29, 2007, that it had reached a settlement agreement with ACT for violations of various federal campaign finance laws during the 2004 US presidential campaign. ACT has agreed to pay $775,000 in fines. [2]

 

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Common Cause is a self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit lobby and advocacy organization.[1] It was founded in 1970 by Republican former cabinet secretary under Lyndon Johnson John W. Gardner as a "citizens' lobby" with a mission focused on making U.S. political institutions more open and accountable.[2]

 

Common Cause's current president and chief executive officer is Robert W. Edgar,[3][4] a former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. Its chairman is former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich.[5] It has offices in 36 states, and is funded by dues and contributions from its nearly 400,000 members and supporters.[6]

It is described as liberal by such news organizations as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsweek, TIME, and USA Today.[8][9][10][11][12]

 

Common Cause focuses on five broad issues: campaign finance reform, election reform, ethics in government, government accountability, and the media. It also weighs in on health care, environmental and defense topics.

Election reformCommon Cause advocates a voter-verified paper audit trail for election machines in all states. In January 2008, Common Cause and the Verified Voting Foundation released a report entitled Voting at Risk 2008 highlighting the problems with electronic voting machines. The report listed 17 states as High-Risk.[14][15]

 

Common Cause is in favor of establishing a national popular vote for presidential elections to replace the current electoral college system. Since 2005 Common Cause has advocated giving the District of Columbia voting rights in Congress.[16]

 

Media:

 

Common Cause's Media and Democracy department focuses on media ownership, network neutrality and community broadband.[citation needed]

 

Ethics:

 

Common Cause was instrumental[citation needed] in passage of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which was enacted on September 14, 2007. The bill strengthens public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding, places more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills.[17]

 

Government accountability:

 

In 1972, Common Cause sued President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), under the Corrupt Practices Act for failure to report campaign contributions. This high-profile case forced Nixon to expose his secret list of donors and aided in his ultimate downfall two years later.[18]

 

Activism against conservatives:

 

In January 2011, Common Cause filed a petition with the Justice Department, seeking an investigation about whether United States Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas should have recused themselves from the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case.[19] Common Cause then investigated the financial filings of Thomas, saying that Thomas did not include his wife's income in his filings.[20] Bob Edgar, Common Cause president, called Thomas' explanation of his omissions "implausible."

 

Controversy:

 

In 2011, the group hosted a rally near the site of a meeting of wealthy conservative activists organized by the Koch family. Christian Hartsock, a videographer who contributes to Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, interviewed several attendees who made racist remarks about Thomas, such as suggesting he should be lynched and that he should be put back in the fields. Another person suggested that Fox News CEO Roger Ailes should be killed. Common Cause quickly condemned such rhetoric.[21][22]

 

Funding:

 

Common Cause receives funding from, among other groups, liberal George Soros' Open Society Institute.[5]

[Valin]

Well, it may be a good thing to have the battle lines so clearly revealed.

 

We've got a lot of work to do.

 

 

[Sanguine]

Well, it may be a good thing to have the battle lines so clearly revealed.

 

We've got a lot of work to do.

 

 

 

Ah, Richard Boone. Good show!