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Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper
Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.
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Iowa Democrats don't vote for women?
January 02, 2008 11:13 PM
For months now, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-Ill., have set her bar lower here in Iowa by noting that the Hawkeye State and Mississippi are the only two states that have never elected a woman to the Governor's Mansion, to the Senate, or to the House.
Clinton herself made that argument in October and Clintonistas are continuing to push this meme.
Here's the problem with that argument: it's bogus.
Let me clarify -- it's bogus as an excuse as to why Clinton might not win Thursday night.
On the other hand, it may in fact be a good argument about why Clinton can't turn this state blue in a general election should she be the Democratic nominee. So it's a good electability argument -- for the general election, and for former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois.
But it's irrelevant to a Democratic caucus.
Iowa Democrats have made women their nominees plenty of times.
Roxanne Barton Conlin won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1982.
Democratic congressional candidates Julie Thomas and Ann Hutchinson won their party's primaries in 2002 (losing to GOP Reps. Jim Nussle and Jim Leach, respectively) as did congressional candidate Joyce Schulte in 2004 and 2006
And Denise O'Brien was the Democrats' nominee for Secretary of Agriculture in 2006 -- despite, I might add, the primary opposition of Clinton-backers AFSCME and Gov. Tom Vilsack, who backed a man, a longtime Vilsack aide.)
All of them got the Democratic party's nomination (almost all in contested primaries) -- and lost in the general election.
So let's just stop that horse before it even tries to leave the barn, Clintonistas. Iowa Democrats are more than happy to nominate women.
Incidentally, all the women listed above except for Thomas have endorsed Edwards. Conlin is a state chair for him...
Hmm.
- jpt
January 2, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (3)
Obama is the change candidate? What a farce. Without a willing congress the only thing he can change is his underwear.
Posted by: roncraw | Jan 3, 2008 11:08:42 AM
She loves playing the victim, she is going to try and use it for the other states, ignoring the fact that she is not liked.
Posted by: spock | Jan 3, 2008 10:45:46 AM
Jake, You need to take a day off. Don't write anything till the results coming out. No one cares to read anything now, just hours before the caucus. Not because what you write is not interesting, you have done a great job and we truly value your report, but now people only want to know the results. That is all we want to know.
Happy New Year! Thanks for keeping us informed.
Posted by: JL | Jan 2, 2008 11:33:50 PM
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