What We're Reading - August 10
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Good morning and happy Friday! A week that started out busy with four state primaries has quieted down. We’re sure that’s just the calm before the storm because tomorrow Hawaii hosts their state primary and on Tuesday citizens in Connecticut and Wisconsin will head to the polls as well. But while things remain calm,make sure to check out what we’re reading this morning…
Putting the bus on the road. “Planned Parenthood [Action Fund] plans swing-state bus tour” – “Planned Parenthood's advocacy arm is launching an 11-state bus tour to rally female voters around President Obama. Planned Parenthood Action Fund said the tour will hit 11 states in 17 days, beginning Aug. 18. Female voters are a key constituency in the 2012 election, and Obama is working hard to capitalize on the gender gap. He campaigned Wednesday on his healthcare law, particularly the mandate that requires most employers to cover contraception in their workers' health plans. The contraception debate is part of a larger battle for female voters that also includes the fight over de-funding Planned Parenthood. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pledged to cut off the group's federal funding — a vow that Obama has explicitly criticized. Planned Parenthood [Action Fund] said its bus tour is designed to remind women ‘what's at stake’ in the presidential race.”
Kirsten Gillibrand says we need more women. “Gillibrand: If We Had Equal Representation In Congress, We Wouldn't Be Debating Contraception” – “New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has learned a lot from her challenger, Wendy Long. No, not much about the race, where she already has a comfortable 30 point lead. Instead, she's realizing how much work needs to be done to get more women running for office, especially women who don't stump for the religious right. ‘[I]f we had 50 percent of women in Congress, we would not be debating contraception,’ she said at a fundraiser, according to The Washington Post. ‘We would be debating the economy, small business, jobs, national security — everything but.’ Gillibrand is using her massive fundraising prowess to focus on other women now--in this case Tammy Duckworth in Wisconsin, Christie Vilsack in Iowa, and Val Demmings in Florida. If all three women won, it could make a massive change in the ratio not just of Republicans to Democrats in the House, but from male to female as well.”
After two failed attempts, “personhood” advocates try again in Colorado. “Colorado Republican Candidates Won’t Endorse Radical Personhood Amendment” – “Now that an anti-abortion group is poised to put a radical personhood amendment on Colorado’s ballot, potentially marking the state’s third vote on whether to amend its constitution to define a fertilized egg as a person and outlaw contraception and invitro fertilization, GOP politicians are being forced to articulate where they stand on the issue. At least two Colorado Republicans running for Congress have already said they won’t endorse personhood if it comes up for a vote. The Denver Post reports that Joe Coors and Mike Coffman — the Republican candidates running in Colorado’s 7th and 6th congressional districts, respectively — will not come out in favor of the personhood amendment if it ends up on the ballot this fall: ‘This time around Joe Coors, now a Republican candidate for the 7th congressional district, will not endorse the personhood initiative, which would ban all abortions in the state,’ the campaign told the Post Wednesday. ‘After its two failed attempts on the ballot, Coloradans have made their decision on this issue,’ campaign spokeswoman Michelle Yi said. ‘Joe respects the voters’ decision and, for the next 90 days, will continue to focus on ideas to get our economy back on track by helping job creators start new businesses and expand their payrolls.’”
