Tag Archive for: politics

Eileen Padberg, The Republican Party, And Its Relationship with Women

Why One Prominent Republican Finally Decided to Leave It

It has been hard for Eileen Padberg as a long-standing Republican and a woman. Incessantly questioned by her female friends and co-workers over the years for her political activism, Eileen nevertheless held firm. A believer in individual rights and liberties, the Republican Party seemed the right party for her when she registered over fifty years ago. Eileen proudly campaigned for Barry Goldwater in the 60’s, Richard Nixon in the 1970s. In the 1960’s she joined the John Birch Society and then led The Young Republicans. Eileen went on to campaign vigorously for the Republican Party on local, state and national levels, advocating the party’s core values that she held near and dear to her heart.

Eileen first started questioning her loyalty to the Republican Party in the 1980s during debates for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). One Republican stated, “If we pass this bill, husbands will leave their wives for their secretaries, and everyone will have to use the same restroom.” (1) This absurd statement became a cathartic moment for Eileen. She realized that in politics, we need more women at the table, and that “if women are not at the table, they will be the main course.” (1) Most significantly, in that moment, Eileen Padberg became a Feminist.

As the years went by, Eileen continued to hope that her Republican Party would change. She advocated for the removal of abortion from the party platform, considering it contrary to the Republican core values of individual rights and liberties. Eileen states, “How much more in your life can the government get? Abortion should be a personal decision-not one made by a white, male congressman.” (1) She also experienced the decimation of Title IX women’s insurance, including the removal of birth control as a covered benefit. Furthermore, Eileen and her fellow female constituents failed to receive support from the male-dominated Republican Party on most bills regarding environmental issues. As a result, she witnessed most environmental bills fail to pass, signaling an even greater divide between the two genders. The undertone surrounding these debates revealed a very dark, insidious, anti-woman rhetoric. These events left Eileen feeling utterly alone in the Republican Party, advocating for women’s rights and causes about which women generally felt strongly, but men generally did not.

Eileen began to feel the Republican Party “dying by a million cuts.” She received a call four years ago from Loretta Sanchez, a former female congresswoman, stating “There are at least a hundred bills every day, on the floor of Congress, that are anti-woman and threaten women’s rights… in some shape or form”(1) Eileen went on to say that “We do not have enough Republican women to fight this. Last year we had 23 Republican women, This year we have 19. Republicans do not help women get elected. It is very disheartening.” (1)

Indeed, women are sorely unrepresented in our country. Statistics released in 2017 reveal that the United States ranked 97th on the list of countries with adequate female representation, with 100 being the worst. (2) In fact, the US ranked as having the lowest representation of any developed country, just above Kurdistan. For example, Rwanda has 39% female representation, while Afghanistan has 27%, and the United States has 23%. (2) Eileen viewed these statistics as a reason to stay within the Republican Party, and to continue advocating for women’s rights. She states, “Equal representation of women in our Congress is essential. The fact that we do not have it is incredible to me. We have so much work to do in our own country.” (1) For as long as Eileen can remember, women candidates have lacked the support of her party. The Republican Party is still shaped by what is known as “the good ol boy’s network,” where men use their positions, power, and influence to help other men. This makes politics today more about who you know rather than what you know, which is alarming considering these are the men making decisions regarding our lives, businesses, and femininity.

For Eileen, the Kavanaugh hearings represented the straw that broke the camel’s back. Eileen states, “I do not surmise that she (Christine Blasey Ford) was right or wrong, but …I know the Brett Kavanaugh’s of the world. I’ve met hundreds of them in my career. He is the ultimate party boy and probably did not think what he did was abusive or wrong. My point is, the treatment of her was so atrocious… She was a credible witness, not somebody looking for a job or to make money. Her family suffered. She had to flee her home. She suffered death threats. And Brett Kavanaugh? He was appointed to a lifetime position … to a position that is going to affect women for their whole lives… she suffered immensely.” (1) After the last day of the hearings, Eileen Padberg called and changed her voter’s registration from Republican to nonpartisan. She simply could not support a party that no longer supported her or her fellow women and treated them with such disrespect. Eileen Padberg, a woman with a stellar reputation in her party, a woman who supported her party against all odds, and a woman who tried repeatedly to assist her party in evolving and attracting more women, finally left it. She states, “people who found out were incredulous, but I could not take it.” (1)

Following the Kavanaugh hearings, Eileen Padberg reflects on the future of the Republican Party and its relationship with women. When asked if she thinks the Republican Party will ever remove abortion from their platform, she answers, “No, and they are doomed until they do.” She goes on to assert that “The Republican Party has a huge problem with women. In this last election we really saw it. Anne Wagner, a well-known, vetted, and experienced politician was going to run for the National Republican Congressional Committee…Kevin McCarthy, the majority leader for Republicans would not support her. He picked (to support) a less experienced white guy. “ (1) In essence, despite her best efforts, nothing really has changed in the Republican Party regarding women.

In the aftermath of Eileen’s resignation from the Republican Party, she has moved on to nonpartisan politics-specifically in the areas that will help her fellow women. Last weekend she helped organize and participate in a fundraiser for a women’s shelter called WISEPlace, which stands for “Women Inspired, Supportive, and Empowered.” This shelter assists unaccompanied, homeless women, and has provided such assistance for the past thirty-one years. The capital campaign, of which Eileen co-chaired, raised a quarter of a million dollars. Now that, Eileen, is something that WILL make a difference.

 

  1. Phone Interview, Eileen Padberg by Katherine Fry, December 10, 2018
  2. http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/4/women-in-politics-2017-map

The Time Is Now to Choose Freedom Over Fear

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Nov 14, 2018, Stu Spencer & Harry Schaffner — RealClear Politics

The time is now, America.  We have had enough of the past few years to say we need to go in a new direction.

Ronald Reagan spoke to all of us in saying that “it is morning in America.”  Now, it is twilight in America.  Our light from the sun has crossed over us and we are in the gloaming.  The time is now, America, to take a new direction.  The light will return.  A new day will dawn.

The time is now to put behind us any notion that this great nation is a colored map, with some states red and others blue.  Colored pencils are for kindergarten.  Our great nation cannot be reduced to colored pencils.  The time is now, America.

We are one people: Americans.  No nation in the history of this world has ever done what we have done in the past.  No nation in history has the ability and the opportunity to do what we can do in the future.  The time is now, America.

We can no longer afford to think of ourselves only as Republicans or Democrats.  We are Americans.  We are a nation built on the premise of freedom for all.  We are not going to allow ourselves to be led by fear.  We are not going to be led by lies and inflammatory language.  We are no longer going to see ourselves as divided by states, regions, religion, gender or ethnicity.  We are America and our time is now, as it has never been before.

We have led the world to advances in science, engineering, education for all; a country that respects every person’s religion and heritage, and every person’s color.  We have lost our way a bit, but we are here to lead us through the short night ahead and into a new morning in America.

We will not be defined as the leader of the 20th century, but not the 21st century.  No.  We have led with our heads high and the awe and respect of the world and we will continue and resume our unique way as Americans.  We have freedom and freedom will always win out.  Hate is not part of our DNA.  Hate is for fools, for the shallow.  Freedom is for winners, and we Americans are winners.  We are, as the very name of our country has proudly said for almost two and a half centuries, the United States of America.

The largest political party in America is not the Republicans or the Democrats.  The largest political party is the voters who did not cast ballots and the Americans who have yet to register as voters.  Those folks are the largest political party in our nation.  And we Republicans will show them that this is their America and that our time is now.  We will show them that the Republican Party is their party.  We must include them and get them to know we hear their voices and their disconnection and apathy.  We understand that no party has appealed to them to participate in the great issues of our time.  We will appeal to them with truth, not fear.  We will appeal to them with no eye for color or ethnicity, no eye for religious preference or gender.  No eye to their private lives defining them.

The world may have changed.  Many nations now have a raised standard of living, excellent health care and a growing middle class.  We have led them and we will resume our role.  We have not changed.  We have been the envy of the world and we will be the envy of the world in the future as well.  We have done that with our great history, our Constitution, our rule of law and our education.  Most of all we have led by showing that freedom will always win out; that truth will always win out and that there is no place for fear and division.

 
As Republicans we are not going to reach across the aisle, we are going to forget there is an aisle.  Let’s listen to the other sides.  Let’s understand their views and proposals.  And most of all let’s put away the language of division and work together for our young and our seniors.  Everything is not political polarity.  All language need not intentionally inflame or belittle anyone.  A gentler America will be a much wiser America.  We are not name-callers.  We do not need to make fun of people or belittle them to feel bigger.  We do not want to create false fears and empty hopes.  Fear has no home in America.

Let us go together as Republicans into the night that is falling upon us.  Let us light up the night with our good sense.  Let’s help each other through the night, not as citizens of a red state or a blue state, but as Americans.  The Republican Party has in our history, and will in our future, lead the way into the new dawn and once again it will be Morning in America.  The time is now, America.  God bless the United States of America.

Source: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/14/the_time_is_now_to_choose_freedom_over_fear_138646.html

Meet the swing voters: In the U.S. midterms, women are a potent force

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Nov 3, 2018, Tamsin McMahon — The Globe and Mail

Democrats are on a mission to flip middle-class enclaves from red to blue – and women are the key, both as organizers and as voters. But some female millennials are helping the GOP fight back. The Globe and Mail reports from two regions to watch

California: Behind the ‘orange curtain,’ women plan for change

Eileen Padberg was a loyal Republican for 53 years.

She joined the party out of high school, set up a Young Republicans association in Anaheim, Calif., and became a prominent California political consultant, managing dozens of campaigns, including Clint Eastwood’s run for mayor of Carmel.

She clung fiercely to her Republican identity – even as she chafed against the party’s embrace of social conservatism. She published a book about the two years she spent in Iraq teaching local women how to compete for work on U.S.-sponsored reconstruction contracts. Pro-choice, she fought to remove the issue of abortion from the Republican platform – but lost.

Over the years, she watched as her political friends left the party and urged her to do the same. She believed Republicans would return to the roots that had attracted her to the party: small government, personal responsibility, a strong national defence.

But this fall, as Republican lawmakers in Congress picked apart a California university professor’s accusations of sexual assault, Ms. Padberg, a sexual-assault survivor herself, finally decided she’d had enough. She dumped her party affiliation and registered as an independent.

“The words that I was hearing from those old white guys were just insulting,” she said. “I couldn’t do it any more.”

She believes she is not alone, that many women like her have been turned off by the Republican Party under President Donald Trump – and that their anger will be a potent force in Tuesday’s midterm elections. “I’ve been holding on by a thin thread for a long time,” she said. “And I suspect that if I went that way, there are a lot of women who did.”

Ms. Padberg, 74, lives in the city of Laguna Niguel, in Orange County, a network of subdivisions, office buildings, theme parks and shopping malls that sprawls down the California coast south of Los Angeles. Places like this have become the battleground in American politics: suburban and traditionally conservative, populated by affluent white voters and an influx of immigrants attracted by good schools, safe neighbourhoods and decent jobs.

In California, moving to Orange County has long been described as going behind the “orange curtain,” the line where the state’s blue politics become red. But Orange County has been gradually turning purple: Demographic and economic shifts have transformed white, middle-class neighbourhoods whose fortunes were tied to the defence industry into a diverse mix of knowledge-economy professionals and service workers.

Two years ago, voters here backed Hillary Clinton by almost five percentage points, the first time the county has supported a Democratic presidential nominee in 80 years. Ms. Clinton’s win here has thrust Orange County into the forefront of the Democratic Party’s efforts to capture the House of Representatives this fall – the first time in years that California has been so central to national politics. The party has poured manpower and money into flipping the region’s four Republican-held congressional seats. Barack Obama and Joe Biden have both come to town.

Central to that push will be Orange County’s female voters. In a region where white women were long counted on as reliable Republican voters, the 2016 election has brought Democratic women out of the shadows.

“For many of us, our politics was something we kept close to the breast,” said Lorellen Green, a physician and former professional dancer. “It took something sort of cataclysmic like this for us to start saying, ‘I’m a Democrat.’”

The energy among women on the left has inspired a flurry of grassroots efforts to get Democratic voters to the polls and to start building the kind of ground game that Orange County Republicans have steadily constructed over decades.

After the 2016 election, Joanna Weiss, 46, a corporate attorney who is now a stay-at-home mom, started keeping track of all her female friends grieving Ms. Clinton’s loss on social media. When she got to 35 names, she invited the women to her home. “We’ll drink a lot of wine, write letters to Congress and maybe we’ll form a political action committee,” she told them.

More than 20 women showed up. Soon the meetings grew too large for her house. Eventually, Ms. Weiss formed Women for American Values and Ethics (WAVE), which she describes as a support system for progressive women in Orange County.

The group now has about 700 members and has created its own Super PAC, an independent political committee that can spend unlimited amounts on advertising as long as it doesn’t co-ordinate directly with parties or candidates. It has raised more than US$200,000, according to public records, including US$75,000 from an April fundraiser hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler.

On a breezy night in October, more than 60 people attended a WAVE ballot party – an information session about candidates and ballot measures – in upscale Newport Beach.

Linda Sanchez, a Democratic congresswoman from neighbouring Los Angeles County who was invited to kick off the party, pointed to a man in the audience who had raised his hand to ask her a question.

“Every time I talk to a group of people, we open it for a Q&A – and women never ask the first question. And I’m tired of that,” she said. “I am not going to answer this man’s question.”

The man lowered his hand. The room, filled mostly with women, broke into applause.

Across town, another group of women gathered at Ms. Green’s home for the inaugural meeting of the Women’s Activist Book Club. The women were members of Imagine Action OC, a grassroots group that has also hosted ballot parties, fundraisers and candidate meet-and-greets. “I see this as part of being a good mom,” said Faye Hezar, one of the group’s organizers and a commercial property manager who moved to California from Iran. “I don’t want my children and my grandchildren to live in a country like this.”

Both Democrats and Republicans caution that Ms. Clinton’s victory here in 2016 may be less a sign that the county’s politics are moving leftward than an indication that many of the region’s moderately conservative voters did not take to Mr. Trump.

Renette Crone was among those early Trump skeptics. Her choice for the Republican nominee was Marco Rubio. But over time she has come to appreciate how the President’s unorthodox style has confounded his political opponents both at home and abroad.

“He does make us cringe,” said Ms. Crone, who has put her interior design business in the affluent waterfront community of Corona Del Mar on hold so she can co-ordinate midterm efforts for the Newport Harbor Republican Women’s Club. “You just have to shrug it off and say: We don’t get our spiritual guidance from Donald Trump.”

She concedes that women are galvanized on the left but believes Republicans remain the establishment party in Orange County. Her group primarily targets fiscally conservative women with messages about Republican tax cuts, rather than expounding on the future of Roe vs. Wade. “We don’t need to go to battle on social issues,” she said. “We’re all about keeping it in the mainstream.”


Where a blue wave may run aground in Orange County is among moderate conservative voters who feel alienated by Mr. Trump’s rhetoric but have reservations about the far-left elements of the Democratic Party.

Voters like Lisa Bauer. A retired human resources manager for the county government, Ms. Bauer, 58, is a long-time Republican. She supported Ms. Clinton in 2016 but also backed her local Republican congresswoman, Mimi Walters. Since then, she has felt increasingly put off by Mr. Trump, whom she describes as “particularly insulting to women,” and by Ms. Walters, whose office has not responded to any of her requests.

This year, she has offered to volunteer for Ms. Walter’s Democratic opponent, law professor Katie Porter. But she has registered to vote as an independent, worrying that the Democrats sometimes push their progressive policies too far. She points to a proposed bill in the state legislature – vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown – that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to serve on local city councils and school boards.

Those positions should be reserved for U.S. citizens, she said. “That’s what gives the Democrats a bad name.”

Orange County’s Democratic candidates have tried to appeal to moderate voters by flashing their conservative bona fides.

Harley Rouda, a real-estate developer challenging veteran Republican Dana Rohrabacher, and lottery winner Gil Cisneros, who is running for a seat vacated by Republican Ed Royce, openly talk about being former Republicans.

In a hotly contested race in a neighbouring, Republican-controlled suburban swath of Los Angeles County, ads for Democrat Katie Hill feature her father, a police officer and Republican voter, and describe how she grew up around guns.

Sheila Bigelow, 64, has volunteered on Ms. Hill’s campaign as a way to “make it up to the universe” for voting for Mr. Trump.

A NASA employee who works at nearby Edwards Air Force Base, she wasn’t bothered by his comments about grabbing women – but changed her mind when he attacked Meryl Streep on Twitter.

“I said: Wait a minute. He’s going to be president in the next few days. Why is he going after the greatest actress of our generation?” she said. “It’s just gotten worse and worse and worse.”

She is skeptical, however, that there are enough voters who feel that way in this long, dry stretch of Southern California. “I disagree with practically everything that Trump has to say, but on this thing I think he’s right: There may not be a blue wave.”

Ms. Padberg views things differently. A veteran of more than 100 Republican political campaigns, many of them supporting female candidates and women’s issues, she sees changes coming.

“I think women finally got it. We finally said: We’re done here. And I think it shows up in this election. Not just in Orange County, but across the country.”

Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-meet-the-swing-voters-in-the-us-midterms-women-are-a-potent-force/

The Challenges of Sheltering Homeless Women in Orange County

September 14, 2018 — Voice of OC

Eileen Padberg, Chairing WISEPlace’s (a shelter for women) Capital Campaign.

Longtime Orange County GOP political consultant, Eilleen Padberg offers a hard look at life on the streets for homeless women living in Orange County as well as the challenges and costs of building permanent supportive housing for them.

Padberg also talks about leading a $5 million capital campaign for WISEPlace, a shelter for homeless women in Santa Ana operating out of the historic – and ailing – YWCA building near the downtown civic center.

Eileen Padberg and friend, Julie Wright with icon Jane Fonda at WISEPlace’s fundraiser in December 2016.

Source: https://voiceofoc.org/2018/09/on-oc-the-challenges-of-sheltering-homeless-women-in-orange-county

Clint Eastwood: A Biography

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E-Book Link

Battling for Name ID in Anaheim

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Oct 22, 2010, Tracy Wood — Voice of OC

The biggest challenge facing the super-sized field of 14 candidates running for two city council seats in Anaheim is simply making sure voters remember their name.

Lawn signs are plastered everywhere by candidates who can afford them, and some even have the resources to send out at least one mailer.

But in a city with 350,000 residents and no signature issue to rally voters, many of those seeking to join the five-member council are riding the top national campaign issue, vowing to create jobs. Yet they offer few specifics on how they could accomplish that from a city council dais.

Another recurrent theme is support for additional police and firefighters.

But as veteran Orange County political consultant Eileen Padberg observed, when a field of candidates is that large, a candidate’s biggest political assets are name recognition and where that name appears on the ballot.

That means, she said, the advantage lies with “whoever’s done the most mail.”

And, she warns, “if you’ve done a lot of negative mail, I don’t think it’s going to work this year.”

Negative mail happens in every campaign, but Padberg said voters appear exceptionally turned off by it this year.

Mailers are expensive, costing $25,000 to $30,000 each, at least in Anaheim, according to several candidates.

Two contenders who can afford that and more are Gail Eastman and Kris Murray. Both are backed by the Chamber of Commerce and Save Our Anaheim Resort, a coalition of interests in the area around Disneyland.

Eastman, a former city planning commissioner who lives in the city’s historic district, has raised $24,265.00 so far this year of her own.

But the Chamber of Commerce also expects to spend roughly $90,000 supporting Eastman, Murray and mayoral candidate Tom Tait, said chamber President Todd Ament. Murray serves on the chamber’s Government Affairs Committee.

In addition to her backing from the Chamber, Murray’s campaign reports that it raised $83,687.88 so far this year with another $1,000 coming in this week from outgoing Mayor Curt Pringle.

Murray is a founding member of S.O.A.R., has served on the Anaheim Public Utilities Board and Metropolitan Water District and works for the Orange County Transportation Authority, where, as executive director of government relations, she oversees the work of the agency’s lobbyists in Sacramento and Washington.

John Leos, a deputy juvenile corrections officer for the county probation department, is the council candidate endorsed by the Anaheim Municipal Employees Association and the Orange County Employees Association, said OCEA labor relations representative Tim Steed.

Leos’ campaign has reported raising $27,650 this year, and Steed said labor will also send mailers on his behalf.

Political newcomer Bill Dalati, through his insurance agency, lent his campaign $75,000. In his statement to voters, he says through his insurance work he has helped 70 small businesses get started in Anaheim.

The city of Anaheim has posted the full list of council candidates and their campaign finance statements online.

Source: https://voiceofoc.org/2010/10/battling-for-name-id-in-anaheim/

Tobacco War: Inside the California Battles

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E-Book Link

Argument in Favor of Proposition 34

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2000 — Argument in Favor of Proposition 34

Reform California political campaigns. Vote YES on Proposition 34.

– Clamp a Lid on campaign contributions

– Limit campaign spending

– Require faster disclosure of contributions via the Internet

– Does not allow taxpayer dollars to be used in campaigns

– Stop political “sneak attacks”

– Close loopholes for wealthy candidates

– Increase fines for law violators

Currently there are no limits on what politicians can collect and spend to get elected to state office. California is still the wild west when it comes to campaign fundraising. Six-figure campaign contributions are routine. Proposition 34 finally sets enforceable limits and puts voters back in charge of California’s political process.

– PROPOSITION 34 LIMITS POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Proposition 34 brings strict contribution limits to every state office. These limits are tough enough to rein in special interests and reasonable enough to be upheld by the courts. Proposition 34 bans lobbyists from making ANY contribution to any elected state officer they lobby.

– PROPOSITION 34 CREATES CAMPAIGN SPENDING LIMITS

Campaign spending is out of control. Proposition 34 creates legally allowable limits to keep spending under control and includes a system so voters know who abides by the limits and who doesn’t.

– PROPOSITION 34 USES THE INTERNET TO SPEED UP DISCLOSURE

Proposition 34 requires candidates and initiatives to disclose contributions of $1,000 or more on the Internet within 24 hours for a full three months before the end of the campaign.

– PROPOSITION 34 DOES NOT ALLOW TAXPAYER FUNDED CAMPAIGNS

Proposition 34 does not impose taxpayer dollars to be used to finance political campaigns in California. Our tax money is better spent on schools, roads and public safety.

– PROPOSITION 34 MORE THAN DOUBLES FINES TO $5,000 PER VIOLATION

– PROPOSITION 34 CLOSES LOOPHOLES FOR WEALTHY CANDIDATES

Wealthy candidates can loan their campaigns more than $100,000, then have special interests repay their loans. Proposition 34 closes this loophole.

– PROPOSITION 34 STOPS POLITICAL SNEAK ATTACKS

In no-limits California, candidates flush with cash can swoop into other races and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at the last minute to elect their friends. Proposition 34 stops these political sneak attacks.

– PROPOSITION 34 REFORMS WON’T BE THROWN OUT

Three times in the past twelve years, voters have attempted to enact limits only to have the courts strike them down. Proposition 34 has been carefully written to fully comply with all court rulings and will set reasonable limits that can be enforced.

VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 34 if you’re tired of special interests controlling our government.

VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 34 if you want real campaign reform that can and will be enforced.

VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 34 if you don’t want taxpayers to pay for political campaigns.

Proposition 34 is tough, fair and enforceable. It deserves your support.

DAN STANFORD, Former Chair
California Fair Political Practices Commission

EILEEN PADBERG, Member
Bipartisan Commission on the Political Reform Act

HOWARD L. OWENS, Director of Region IX
National Council of Senior Citizens

Source:  http://vigarchive.sos.ca.gov/2000/general/text/text-yesarg-34.htm

Orange Coast Magazine (Mar 1996)

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E-Book Link

Time To Take Off The Gloves

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Apr 17, 1992, Judy Mann — The Washington Post

Kathryn G. Thompson has built thousands of houses in Orange County, Calif. She’s been so successful that she was able to give $100,000 to the Republican National Committee in support of President Bush. She got a funny kind of thank you.

At a reception for “Team 100” contributors like herself, then-RNC Chairman Clayton Yeutter walked up and said: “And who do you belong to, little lady?” And with that, the former secretary of agriculture stepped in a rhinestone cow pie.

Thompson wrote about the incident in a February op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times. The RNC needs this kind of publicity like it needs another round of Supreme Court hearings. Then in March, Thompson signed on as the finance co-chairwoman for the campaign of Judith Ryan, a retired Superior Court judge who is challenging Rep. Robert K. Dornan in the Republican primary for California’s new 46th congressional district.

Dornan, one of the House’s leading opponents of abortion, is the author of the amendments to the District of Columbia appropriation bills that prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for abortions for poor women in the nation’s capital.

Thompson has had no trouble figuring out why she should support a Republican woman who advocates abortion rights for Dornan’s seat. Women, she believes, can restore the competitive ethic to the nation. As she wrote in the Times: “I and many other successful women have developed something our leaders in this nation don’t have and desperately need: an ethic of success through struggle. We know that success requires some kind of change and understand that institutions not only inhibit the process of change but discourage the very idea.”

Ryan’s entry into the race is providing progressive, abortion-rights organizations with one of their best opportunities this year for bumping off a major foe. And Dornan is running scared. Never one to duck a fight, he has reacted so vengefully to this assault on his seat that his old sobriquet of “B-1 Bob” (earned through his support of the B-1 bomber) has been updated to “Bully Bob” in the Los Angeles press.

“He’s public enemy number one for women,” said Eileen Padberg, Ryan’s campaign manager. “They’ve done everything they can to keep us out of the race. He called and said he would have the White House call me. I’d have the wrath of the White House on my back. He said I’d never work for Republicans again. He’d have my RNC contract canceled. I said, ‘I never had an RNC contract. Those only go to the good ol’ boys, not the good ol’ girls.’ ”

Padberg said Ryan was able to raise $50,000 in the two weeks after she announced her candidacy on March 11. But Dornan still has formidable fund-raising strength among conservatives.

One group that is not giving Ryan money is the WISH List, a new group of Republican women who are supporting pro-choice Republican women. Victoria Toensing, a Washington lawyer and a founder of the WISH List, said the group never intended to support challengers to GOP incumbents, but would support pro-choice Republican women running for open seats and in general elections.

But Padberg, who said she was involved in some of the original discussions leading up to the group, said, “There are minute numbers of open districts. For them to think that did not include challenging incumbents, I don’t know where they are coming from. That was never part of the original conversations.”

What no one seems to dispute is that when Dornan got wind of the possibility that the WISH List would support Ryan, he confronted Republican women in Congress who back the group and secured their promise that they would not support a challenger against him.

Thus, Ryan is not going to get support from the Republican women who would seem to be her most likely allies. It doesn’t take much to figure out why Dornan is earning the “Bully Bob” moniker.

Ryan is expected to get support from the National Women’s Political Caucus when it meets next week to select the candidates it will help. The California branch of the caucus has recommended that Ryan be supported.

“No one sounds so astounded when men contest another man for a seat,” said caucus chairwoman Harriett Woods. “And the funding groups put their money behind the person who supports their positions.”

Kathryn Thompson understands this. Incumbents don’t have permanent title to their seats. Women who have the guts to go against them are the people who are going to revitalize democracy and bring new energy into an exhausted political process. They deserve all-out support from other Republican women. Wishing Dornan away won’t cut it.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1992/04/17/time-to-take-off-the-gloves/05d05362-2038-4f51-9144-909d0b0c3add/?utm_term=.91d844167645