WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2006
Congress Likely To Add More Women
140 Are Running For House Seats, 12 For Senate
-
Play CBS Video
Video
Campaign '06 Winds Down
With the midterm elections a day away, and control of Congress at stake, both parties are working to the very last minute. Bill Plante reports from Crawford, Tx.
-
Video
Cleaning Up Politics
Bob Schieffer talks about why you might want to take a shower after this year's election.
-
Photo
Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill, a Democrat and one of 12 women running for the Senate, is in a tight race with Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo. (AP)
-
Interactive
Campaign 2006
Complete coverage and analysis of Senate and key House races, plus gubernatorial elections.
-
Video Archive
Down 'N' Dirty
Watch the hard-hitting attack ads of Campaign 2006
"I've been calling it the perfect storm for these women," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. "Before they even open their mouths, it's clear they are not your standard-issue members of Congress — not white male, blue suit with red tie."
"They look like change, and are seen as agents of change," Walsh said.
The ranks of competitive female candidates this year are lopsidedly Democratic, so they could play a key role in determining which party controls Congress and state houses come January.
Of the 140 women running for the House, for example, 98 are Democrats. On the Senate side, 12 women are running, eight of them Democrats. The party is particularly hopeful for female candidates in two Senate races: Amy Klobuchar is favored to win a Minnesota seat held by retiring Democrat Mark Dayton, and Claire McCaskill is running neck-and-neck with Republican Sen. Jim Talent in Missouri.
Record numbers of women now serve in the House (67) and Senate (14).
In the 36 governor's races this year, 10 women are running, half of them incumbents and half of them Democrats. There are currently eight female governors, six of them Democrats.
In state legislative races, a record 2,431 female candidates are running this year, of whom 1,563 are Democrats. The previous record of 2,375 was set in 1992, but the numbers of female candidates seemed to hit a plateau after that.
Dennis Simon, a Southern Methodist University professor who studies women in politics, said this year's climate is tailor-made for female candidates. Dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq may make voters more inclined to identify with women, seeing them as mothers whose children may be sent to war. Questions about inside-the-Beltway ethics may benefit female candidates as well, Simon said.
"They're perceived as candidates outside the old-boy network," he said. The Mark Foley page scandal, which emphasized protection of children, has particularly contributed to the good climate for female candidates, he said.
But even with all that female candidates have going for them this year, they are unlikely to match the gains posted in 1992, when 22 new women were added to Congress — three in the Senate and 19 in the House. In that year, hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas drew attention to the dominance of men in the Senate, and a large number of open House seats offered newcomers a shot at breaking in.
There are far fewer open seats now because of congressional redistricting. Also, a number of female Republican House members are vulnerable this year, which could offset Democratic gains by female candidates.
In the current House, 43 women are Democrats and 24 are Republicans. Two are sure to be gone. In Florida, Republican Rep. Katharine Harris decided to run for the Senate, but is thought to have no chance of victory. In Georgia, Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney lost in the primary.
In the Senate, nine women are Democrats and five are Republicans.
Walsh believes Congress could gain at least 10 women, but some Democratic partisans think the stars are aligned for far more.
"This is exactly the year that we've been working toward," said Karen M. White, political director of Emily's List, which backs Democratic women who support abortion rights. For two decades, the group has recruited, trained and financed female candidates for Congress as well as for state and local offices. Now, White says, many of the women they cultivated early in their political careers are ready to make the leap to Congress.
"We've got this bench of women who have been ready to run when the time came, and here we are," White said.
The group thinks it can add 10 to 15 seats in the House, White said.
A swing of 15 seats to the Democrats is exactly the margin needed to shift control of the House from the Republicans.
Simon, the SMU professor, said that among the 47 most competitive House races this year, 18 feature female candidates.
"That's greater than their overall presence in House elections, so the control of Congress is going to be largely influenced by the success of female candidates," he said.
Tara Wall, a Republican National Committee spokeswoman, dismisses speculation that a number of Republican women House members may be in trouble, saying, "History bears out that incumbents remain in place."
In addition, Wall said, the party is fighting hard to elect Republican Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who is running in Texas as a write-in contender after the party lost a court fight to replace Tom DeLay's name on the ballot.
©MMVI, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Video and Galleries from Politics
-
Video
Hi-Tech Drones Aid Terror Hunt
-
Video
Confirming Sotomayor
-
Video
Obama, Pope Convene At Vatican
ROBOCALLING
Your phone rings and you hear %u201C(Insert Democratic candidate name here) has some information for you.%u201D A spiel ensues that plays up the exaggerated ultra liberal positions of candidate X. This includes outright lies and distortions of the candidates voting record, stated platform, etc. Suppose you hang up because you are not interested, or in the middle of dinner or whatever; the phone rings again with the bogus message. This may be repeated 6, 7, 8, a dozen times or more. By now you are livid, and pretty well convinced to punish candidate X by voting for his Republican opponent or not voting at all.
The problem is the Candidate X had nothing to do with the calls. They come from the Republican election machine. That is the object of these calls: to make potential nonGOP voters angry at the Democratic candidate that has been targeted by the RNCC.
These calls are happening all over the United States. If you hang on through the call you can get to the disclaimer that names the actual source of the message. Now you can forward the source of the call to your state attorney general%u2019s office or whoever oversees election conduct in your state.
Don%u2019t fall for this sneaky underhanded desperate tactic. It just shows how low they will go to stay in power.
VOTE these cheaters out!
ROBOCALLING
Your phone rings and you hear %u201C(Insert Democratic candidate name here) has some information for you.%u201D A spiel ensues that plays up the exaggerated ultra liberal positions of candidate X. This includes outright lies and distortions of the candidates voting record, stated platform, etc. Suppose you hang up because you are not interested, or in the middle of dinner or whatever; the phone rings again with the bogus message. This may be repeated 6, 7, 8, a dozen times or more. By now you are livid, and pretty well convinced to punish candidate X by voting for his Republican opponent or not voting at all.
The problem is the Candidate X had nothing to do with the calls. They come from the Republican election machine. That is the object of these calls: to make potential nonGOP voters angry at the Democratic candidate that has been targeted by the RNCC.
These calls are happening all over the United States. If you hang on through the call you can get to the disclaimer that names the actual source of the message. Now you can forward the source of the call to your state attorney general%u2019s office or whoever oversees election conduct in your state.
Don%u2019t fall for this sneaky underhanded desperate tactic. It just shows how low they will go to stay in power.
VOTE these cheaters out!
maybe its time for a third tour of duty?
of course this time, you'd probably be serving alongside Jimmy Carter in Hamas.
Nice that we're retaining the senate...
love and kisses,
Jane
Jon Kyl will beat the gutless Jimbo Pederson in Arizona, whose ads won't even fess up that he is a dem. Mike Steele, a good decent man unlike that Byrd KKK lover Obama, might just pull it off in Maryland, Allen is ahead in Virginia, Santorum has closed in Pennsylvania against the stealth candidate, and Tom Kean just might pull it off despite the money poured in by Corzine and the rest of the corrupted democratic crooks -and perverts like the former gov.
Yes, unfortunately Plastic Princess might take the House, and our taxes may go up while our defenses go down (I'm sure bluestar is cheering loudly alongside his pal Hanoi John Kerry), but even the House will be close, and there's always the joy of a Presidential veto.
It is still a good day to be a Republican - and an American, unlike the Jew-baiting, Christian-hating, Terrorist-appeasing, ILLEGAL welcoming Democratic Neo-Fascists.
Oh, by the way, how convienent that Jimmy Carter's hate Israel pro-Hamas book isn't coming out till next week. I wonder - hint screamer dean and plastic princess - told him to delay its release. So much for Dems standing side by side (as they once did when decent men were still in that party) with Israel. And so much for Democratic vigilance in the war on terror - make that Democratic surrender as personified by peanut coward and bigot.
Janey:
You really like wallowing in the mud, don't you?
Have fun.
Jane, you made my day. Your ridiculous rantings are just what voters need to hear from the neo-cons just before going to vote. You're hysterical. You really crack me up! See ya after the landslide!
I'm a republican. When is election day?
Next week or something?
Or is it in December?
As far as politics go, electing women will cut down on *** scandals like the Foley case, et al. How often do women if congress get exposed as philanderers and predators?
If the average virtue of men were even half that of women, the world would be an unimaginable paradise.
As far as graphing the decline of America, perhaps the decline can be attributed to a decline in morality of among men. Women are merely stepping into the vacuum and providing the leadership because their worse half is getting worse.
...that being said, the overwhelming majority of both elected officials AND candidates are Caucasian, what does that say about equal rights in the country in general?
ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL (EXCEPT FOR THE REPUBLICAN VIEW OF "ALL MEN ARE CREATED UNEQUAL", I'D RATHER VOTE FOR A WOMAN THAN FOR A MAN.
VOTE FOR WOMEN OR MEN WHO ARE DEMOCRATIC, BUT VOTE DEMOCRATIC!
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
-
by lestb35
November 7, 2006 8:26 PM PST
- yea, good point.
-
Reply to this comment
-
See all 26 Comments