Sarah Palin vs. Emily's List: a Twitter 'feminist' feud
| Washington
Women certainly have come a long way, baby. Ninety years ago today, American women finally gained the right to vote.
Maybe it was inevitable that, as more women became active in politics, divisions would grow more pronounced. Today, with Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann leading the charge, conservative women are taking on the liberals like never before.
Now the group Emily鈥檚 List, which raises money for abortion rights Democratic women candidates, is fighting back and taking on former Governor Palin in a campaign called Sarah Doesn鈥檛 Speak for Me. The campaign is a response to Palin鈥檚 鈥渕ama grizzly鈥� endorsements of conservative anti-abortion women candidates around the country (a club that grew on Wednesday, as Palin took to her Facebook page and endorsed seven more women).
鈥淭hroughout this cycle, Sarah Palin has predicted a rising tide of mothers and women voters who will support her so-called 鈥�Mama Grizzly鈥� candidates,鈥� EMILY鈥檚 List President Stephanie Schriock said in a statement announcing the campaign. 鈥淧alin has made it her mission to defeat candidates who have worked hard to champion the rights of women and families across the country and replace them with conservative candidates who want to repeal health care, stand with big business, and eliminate a woman鈥檚 right to choose.鈥�
The new site, , will include multimedia features and information about candidates backed by Palin. It already includes a video of Emily鈥檚 List-style 鈥渕ama grizzlies,鈥� young women dressed up as bears telling their stories, that is less ambitious than California Republican Senate candidate (and Palin endorsee) Carly Fiorina鈥檚 鈥渄emon sheep鈥� ad, but in some ways is just as cringe-worthy.
On Wednesday, Palin and Ms. Schriock duked it out on Twitter. : 鈥淲ho hijacked term:"feminist"?A cackle of rads who want 2 crucify other women w/whom they disagree on a singular issue; it's ironic (& pass茅)鈥�
An hour later, Schriock tweeted back: 鈥淍SarahPalinUSA: you might've watched the video, but you & your allies aren't listening to women about #HCR, #FinReg, & our families.鈥�
For those who don鈥檛 speak Twitterese, Schriock was referring to health-care reform and financial regulation.
The Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports Republican women candidates who oppose abortion 鈥� and named for a leading suffragette of the 19th century 鈥� has also taken off after Emily鈥檚 List鈥檚 new campaign.
鈥淓mily鈥檚 List is running scared 鈥� and it shows,鈥� the group鈥檚 president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a statement. 鈥淐learly, in this 鈥榊ear of the Pro-Life Woman,鈥� which Sarah Palin helped make possible, women have found their political voices.鈥�
Republicans have long trailed the Democrats in getting women elected, and this year the GOP has nominated some high-profile women for major offices 鈥� including former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman for California governor, South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, and former TV wrestling CEO Linda McMahon for the Connecticut Senate race. But not all of them qualify to be Palin-style mama grizzlies: Ms. Whitman and Ms. McMahon both favor abortion rights, though with some restrictions.
