Fed-Up EMILY’s Not Afraid to Take On the Good Ol’ Boys
The other night at the Pink House, which is where Sharen Heath lives in Laguna Beach, all kinds of women were stopping by. Understandable. The invitation mentioned Anita, and Clarence, and what EMILY intended to do about it all.
You see, EMILY is really furious about what happened to Anita after she went up against Clarence, and EMILY wants to get even. Or maybe more than even.
After all, women actually outnumber men in the United States--where the last time anyone checked democracy was supposed to be “by the people, for the people”--only from the looks of Congress, you’d think that women were some sort of rare minority race.
So Sharen decided to throw a “slumber party,” although it really wasn’t one in the technical sense, so that’s why she put it in quotes. (And certainly nobody nodded off the other night.)
Sharen suggested that each guest kick in $10 so that, as a group, they might join EMILY’s List, the donor network dedicated to electing pro-choice women Democrats to high office. (So far, the election of Texas Gov. Ann Richards is EMILY’s most visible success).
Only the partisan aspect was lost in the excitement at the Pink House the other night. Understandable.
Once you get 52 women packed into a Laguna Beach cottage, then show them a tape of the tragicomic “Designing Women” episode, “The Strange Case of Clarence and Anita,” on a big screen, then pump them with popcorn and wine and mineral water, why, they get to talking, or shouting, or almost crying.
In other words, they get to communicating , slumber party style, about what really matters to them right now. They are fed up, and, finally, they are getting involved.
“I’m a Republican . . . “ one chic, suited woman with big jewelry and sleek hair was saying to another woman in a plaid shirt and trousers within moments after each had arrived.
“Well, I’m a Democrat,” said the lower-keyed of the two, “But you know what? I don’t think it matters. I’m just voting for a woman , who’s pro-choice. I’m just sick about what is going on.”
Sickness was indeed a topic much discussed at Sharen’s place. The consensus seemed to be that a system that would allow 14 good ol’ boys on the Senate Judiciary Committee to handle the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas as they did was indeed seriously ailing, in need of a new lease on life.
Which is where the women come in.
“If we were represented in government by 50 or 52% as we are in the general population, do you think that George Bush would be dragging his feet about going to the earth summit in Rio?” Sharen asked her guests.
“No” they said in a general harrumph, a “ha!” heard here and there.
“Do you think we would be spending trillions more on military defense than we are on educating our young people? Would Pete Wilson be talking about reducing aid to dependent children and mothers who need our assistance?
“Would the condition of America be different, and how would it be different?”
No, no and yes, accompanied by many disconsolate sighs.
“I think women are not sick and tired, but bored and uninspired by some 200 years of political domination by elderly white males,” Sharen said. “If you’re anything like me, after that awful weekend of watching the Thomas hearings, you realized that we can no longer trust men to make changes for us.”
This was greeted by very hearty applause.
One woman introduced herself to the group by saying that because she was divorcing her husband after 22 years of marriage, she had, for the first time the other day, opened her own checking account.
“And this is my first check!” she said of her contribution to the cause.
This was greeted by even heartier applause, and cheers.
Another guest, accompanied by her teen-age daughter, told the group that they should avoid blaming men for their troubles.
“Instead, I would like us to step up and take responsibility for looking after our own interests,” she said.
“Here! Here!” was the feeling about that.
Sharen had hoped to raise $300 to join EMILY’s List (an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast--”it makes the dough rise”), but instead she got $800. This, she said, was an extremely pleasant surprise. Fact is, she was thrilled .
Sharen, who runs a small publishing operation, Pink House, from her home, is pretty new to this type of thing.
The guests decided on a voice vote that $200 of the booty should go to EMILY’s List; $200 to Chicago’s Carol Moseley Braun, who knocked out three-term senator Alan Dixon in last month’s Illinois Democratic primary; $200 to California Democrat Barbara Boxer, running for the Senate; and $200 to former judge Judith Ryan, a Republican hoping to unseat Bob Dornan from the House.
“For the first time, I crossed parties last week,” Sharen said. “I wrote a check for Judith Ryan.”
In fact, several Republican women were among the guests, including Anita Mangels, a board member of the California Abortion Rights Action League, who says she will not vote for any Republican who is anti-choice.
Anita, meantime, was accepting contributions for WISH (Women in the Senate and House) List, which is modeled after EMILY’s List and works to elect pro-choice Republican women. Anita says her “personal misrepresentative” is Christopher Cox. She doesn’t like him very much.
“I think there is no question about it,” said another guest, a Democrat, who has warmed to Judith Ryan of the Republican camp. “We are all one issue now. We’ve been sold down the river by Bush. There is a deep, visceral anger, a burn, and it doesn’t take much to inflame it.”
This is bad news for the good ol’ boys, wherever they are. Doesn’t seem that there’s anything they can do to put the fire out. Short of just making room at the top.
Dianne Klein’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Readers may reach Klein by writing to her at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7406.
