More Women In Congress, But Was It A Pink Wave?

Image via Real Clear Politics

BY ADELE MALPASS

WASHINGTON (REAL CLEAR POLITICS)--The 2018 election season was billed as the Year of the Woman, but was there a "pink wave" to match the hype? With results from the midterms (mostly) tabulated, the election indeed resulted in a new high-water mark for women in the House -- an increase of 15 seats from 85 in 2016 to at least 100 in 2018 -- though some observers are hesitant to use the term "wave."

"All along, we've been pushing back on the expectation that any single election would be a ‘wave' or a ‘tsunami' for women," said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. She added, "It's taken us a long time to get even here."

In the Senate, the change will be more modest (or possibly remain flat). Claire McCaskill and Heidi Heitkamp lost; Jacky Rosen and Marsha Blackburn won, and either Martha McSally or Kyrsten Sinema will represent Arizona. If Cindy Hyde-Smith -- who was appointed to the seat of Thad Cochran this spring -- wins her Mississippi run-off election on Nov. 27, the number in the chamber will rise by one to 24.

Overall, of the women elected to both houses, 34 were new faces, which tops the record set in 1992, when 28 non-incumbent women were victorious. In the end, the Year of the Woman will result in a female representation on Capitol Hill of 23 percent, up from 20 percent.

As the midterms approached, the message from women's advocates morphed "The Year of the Woman" to "The Year of Firsts." For the first time, Native American and Muslim women were elected. Also for the first time, Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota, Iowa and Vermont will be sending women to the House.

By other measures, it also was a milestone election season. A record number of women filed to run for office, and the amount of money raised by women for women was also an all-time high. From a political standpoint, these numbers were lopsided, since most of "the firsts" were achieved by Democrats. "Democrats have a more robust recruitment process and a network of organization to support their candidates," said Dittmar.

But did voters cast their ballots for particular candidates because they are women? A June NBC/Wall Street Journal poll indicated that wouldn't be the case, as only 24 percent of respondents said they were more likely to vote for a candidate because her gender.

"What really matters are the ideas and principles candidates are running on," said Carrie Lukas, president of Independent Women's Forum, a right-of-center nonprofit organization. She added that "women's groups hype the candidacy and successes of Democratic women … to create the impression that they are the only party of women" and Lukas warned that "Republicans need to take note of the election's message and redouble efforts to show women that they offer better solutions and opportunities that will help women and families."

Midterm exit polling data show a shift from Republican to Democrat among married voters, independent women and suburban voters. In 2016, Donald Trump won married voters by eight percentage points (52 percent-44 percent); however, in 2018 married voters supported the Democratic candidate by four points (51 percent-47 percent). Also this year, Democrats racked up double-digit margins with married women (+10), independent women (+17) and college-educated women (+20). Suburban voters supported Trump by four points (49 percent-45 percent) in 2016, but the suburban vote was evenly divided in 2018 at 49 percent for each party.

One of the most troubling aspects of the 2016 election for the left was that white women supported Trump by nine points (52 percent-43 percent). However, that changed in 2018, with white women divided evenly at 49 percent between Republicans and Democrats. "For Republicans to win elections in 2020, they need to do better with suburban women. Period," said Liesl Hickey, a GOP strategist.

"The president didn't have a message for suburban moms in the closing weeks," said Sarah Chamberlain, president of the Main Street Republican Partnership, which mostly has members from suburban districts. She added, "The president needed a two-pronged approach of motivating the base with immigration while talking to suburban women about school safety and opioid prevention. Safety Moms want to hear about peace and prosperity."

Lukas also makes a point about the economic message: "From a Republican perspective, it was the Year of the Woman because the Republican tax bill ushered in the lowest unemployment rate for women in two decades." Voters, however, apparently didn't see or hear that message often enough.

Obamanian Politics, Books and What's Up

[Drawing courtesy of Once Made]

Whew! another week gone by and with March Madness in all aspects of life, I think it's quite fascinating how we deal with the scheme of things and what to expect in President Barack Obama's first hundred days in office. It's tough, ain't it? The president is optimistic about the paralized economy bouncing back sooner or later. And methink he's doing the best he can neverminding what conservative Republicans are up to in throwing all the bad stuff that is seemingly negative to the affairs of state in an economy gone so bad they should be blamed for as a result of a bad managed Bush 2 era.

Actually, I read Elizabeth Drew's elegantly written piece on Obama's code of conduct and his boys -- "The Thirty Days of Barack Obama" -- in the White House, in the March 26, 2009 edition of The New York Review of Books which pinpointed how Obama really wants to change the way business is done in Washington.

Drew's essay spoke volumes. She spoke to a whole lot of insiders and notably pointed out how a Obama close observer has seen the president as "the boys are running the White House." The "boys" are Rahm Emmanuel (Chief of Staff), David Axelrod (Chief Campaign Strategist and Senior Adviser to the president), Jim Messina (Deputy Chief of Staff), and Patrick Gaspard who heads the office of Political Affairs in the White House.

Interestingly, Obama is using his executive orders and pen swiftly to do stuff.: "the memos of John Yoo," George W. Bush' measures on the "war on terror," "justified torture and lenghty detention without trial were nullified," writes Drew.

Also, interestingly, Drew wrote on Obama's mistakes and choice of appointments --the appointments of Timothy Geithner and Tom Daschle -- which she described as "rookie mistakes" and "as the results of sheer fatigue and overload."

For some reasons, the books are popping up and myself being the non-fiction kind of guy book reader, I tend to shoot it straight with reality -- life's true events and personal experiences even though the online book bash and its fifth annual Tournament of Books is full of upsets but quite novel.

I'm still sticking to books that are based on facts and issues that I can relate to. Books of inspiration, and perhaps that's why books of inspiration are popping up all over, especially those of Abey Lincoln who unquestionably inspired President Obama. Oxford University Press has released two books on Lincoln" "Abraham Lincoln," by the Pulitzer Prize Winner James M. McPherson and "Lincoln and his Admirals," by Craig I. Symonds. And in Hollywood, David Welky's "The Moguls and the Dictators: Hollywood and the coming of World War II" had Morgan State University's Thomas Cripps put it up this way: "There have been other works that treat this area, but few match the quality of interveaning the worlds of movies, diplomacy and tghe temper of the times (especially as seen in the minds of the 'moguls')." In short, too many fascinating books in the world of Spring and especially the "March Madness of Books."

In the meantime, I have browsed through G. Pascal Zachary's memoir "Married to Africa," after reading its review by Megan Harlan in "Love and Marriage for an American Ex-Pat in Ghana." Good read and it's all about Zachary's obsession for the woman he loved and never looked back. A strange love affair. A humble beginning. A middle-class upbringing. A marriage put together. A real understanding. And, a generation apart.

What's up? My readers are wondering what's going on, especially with the "About Me" on my blog and what's up with that. I'm not revealing anything for now but I'm quite sure they must have figured out who the picture is since I pulled the first one out. There's been a whole lotta noise about Rita Edmond and her velvet voice that is now capturing jazz music lovers. As a jazz enthusiast, I was one of the guys that picked up her debut CD "Sketches Of A Dream" and after going through all the gigs in Los Angeles Rita had this to say about her love for Jazz: “I am sketching out a lifetime dream of what I want to do vocally. I love jazz and the standards are some of the most beautiful songs ever written. Jazz is the most liberating free form of music there is; I call it free flowing music..."

On the other beat, the women at WOWOWOW are not taking anything for granted. Celebrating its first year anniversary, a whole lot is going on for them and they seem to be equal to the task, and the vibe looks good. Yes, the vibe looks good.

They love Obama and Obama seems to be winning their votes which increasingly is disturbing to conservative Republicans. I, in particular, do not know what these folks think they are conserving in a fast changing world. The world has changed and we better admit it and deal with it. These so-called neocons have made the hoodrats look like gurus and intellectuals; and for sure, they are not thinking right.

It's a "New Dawn" and the world must get better!