Gop Women

Republican women are just one Supreme Court justice away from becoming party slaves. JACK CORKERY San Clemente

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden spoke to more than 200 members of the Turkish and Azerbaijani communities at a fundraiser in Washington on Friday morning, a quiet group he described as “dull as hell” to draw a laugh. But Biden said the U.S. takes its relationships with Turkey and Azerbaijan quite seriously. Turkey, he said, has "been one of our most valuable and proudest allies. "I have been the one who has publicly, along with the president, been very, very critical of some of our European allies for not fully embracing Turkey in the economic union, for not fully embracing Turkey as part of Europe.

As Sarah Palin warns the country to make way for a "stampede of pink elephants" and conservative women grab barrier-breaking victories, many have dubbed 2010 the "Year of the Republican Woman." The label seems especially apt in California, where two women top the Republican Party's ticket. In South Carolina, a Republican may become the first woman to hold the governor's office. In New Mexico and Nevada, women won hard-fought primaries to become the party's choices for governor and Senate.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Friday castigated the Republican Party for what he said were dated views onwomen's healthissues, saying the recent debate over contraceptives was "like being in a time machine. "  Speaking at a women's conference organized by his campaign, Obama called the issue "illuminating. " "Republicans in Congress were going so far as to say an employer should be able to have a say in the healthcare decisions of its female employees," Obama said. "I'm always puzzled by this -- this is a party that says it prides itself on being rabidly anti-regulation.

Re "Women of Influence Feel Estranged From the GOP," June 2: The Los Angeles County Republican Women, Federated is the largest all-volunteer, political organization in the nation. In L.A. County, we are 7,000 strong. Though the press has portrayed women as generally disenfranchised by the Republican Party, I beg to differ. The federation shares the same status as our male counterparts in the local, state and national party. We make appointments to the central committee, groom candidates and campaign managers, hold workshops to determine recommendations on voting measures, and strive to educate our members to the fullest.

Wanted: More Republican women like County Supervisor Marian Bergeson and Assemblywoman Marilyn C. Brewer. Not women who necessarily share their political views, but women who share their party and their success. Not women to mop up along the campaign trail, but women to lead the charge.

At last, Ladies-in-the-Bathtub seemed headed for higher ground. A 1921 sculpture of three suffragettes, torsos rising stoically out of a block of Italian marble, would languish no longer in the basement of the U.S. Capitol but be moved to the main floor as a celebration of women. A resolution to hoist the carved features of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and a bonneted Lucretia Mott breezed through the Senate last summer to mark the 75th anniversary of women's right to vote.

After Tuesday's primary, Pete Wilson is no better off politically than he was when he began his crusade to change the face of the state Legislature. At least not yet. The governor has gambled big. He bet he could leverage a Republican-leaning reapportionment plan out of the courts. He got his desired political map. Along the way, he also won the undying enmity of the legislative leadership and other incumbents whose votes he needs.

At last, Ladies-in-the-Bathtub seemed headed for higher ground. A 1921 sculpture of three suffragists, torsos rising stoically out of a block of Italian marble, would languish no longer in the basement of the U.S. Capitol but be moved to the main floor as a celebration of women. A resolution to hoist the carved features of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and a bonneted Lucretia Mott breezed through the Senate last summer to mark the 75th anniversary of women's right to vote.

With reference to "10 GOP Rivals Steer to the Right in 1st Encounter" (Oct. 12), we could only count nine candidates named in the article. Since Pete Wilson has withdrawn from the field of candidates, we assume the missing candidate is Alan Keyes. Keyes picked up 8% of the vote in the Iowa straw poll, and that was before any speeches were made! At the Perot convention in Texas about three months ago, Keyes received a standing ovation after completing his speech. Recently, at a GOP women's dinner in Pomona, the speaker was asked if he would vote for Keyes.

As Sarah Palin warns the country to make way for a "stampede of pink elephants" and conservative women grab barrier-breaking victories, many have dubbed 2010 the "Year of the Republican Woman." The label seems especially apt in California, where two women top the Republican Party's ticket. In South Carolina, a Republican may become the first woman to hold the governor's office. In New Mexico and Nevada, women won hard-fought primaries to become the party's choices for governor and Senate.

The president of a San Bernardino County Republican women's club that published an illustration of Barack Obama surrounded by ribs, fried chicken and watermelon resigned Wednesday, saying she demonstrated "poor judgment" and a lack of sensitivity. Diane Fedele faced intense pressure from state GOP leaders who called the drawing racist and Democrats who demanded she quit as head of the Upland-based Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated. In a sometimes combative apology sent to club members, Fedele said she received the illustration through a chain e-mail and used it for a "satiric" attack on what she sees as Obama's "socialist" agenda of government giveaways.

Rudolph W. Giuliani is married to his third wife, his kids barely talk to him and he's comfortable with leaving intact the national policy permitting abortion. Oh -- and he's the former mayor of New York City, a modern Gomorrah to many here at the biennial conference of the National Federation of Republican Women. You'd think that Giuliani would get little more than a polite round of applause from the mostly conservative crowd of 2,000 women.

A solid majority of likely voters favors removing Gov. Gray Davis from office in the recall election Tuesday, and Arnold Schwarzenegger has surged ahead of his rivals in the race to succeed him, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll. By 56% to 42%, likely voters support ousting the Democratic incumbent, a sign that Davis has lost ground in the closing phase of his battle for political survival.

Last week, the Republican Women's Caucus in California endorsed a gubernatorial candidate who as recently as July had gloried in the prospect of shoving a woman's head into a filthy toilet bowl. The GOP women rationalize that Arnold Schwarzenegger "supports family." Mark that endorsement the death knell of Republican claims to represent traditional family values.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan may be the man to beat among Republicans vying to be governor. But Secretary of State Bill Jones and businessman Bill Simon Jr. aren't ready to accept that. All three appeared Saturday before volunteers from the California Federation of Republican Women, with Jones pointing out that Riordan has contributed to a "virtual who's who of liberal candidates" in the last two decades. The accusation drew groans from many in the crowd.

It happens every so often in U.S. politics. Voter behavior leaves pundits speechless--at least for a minute. The technical term for the phenomenon is the "Say what ?" factor. It's at work in this year's Republican presidential primaries. Exit polls indicate that GOP women are voting overwhelmingly for President George Bush. Who are these women?

Six black Republican women released an angry letter Tuesday chastising party leaders for failing to invite African American conservatives to a two-day Republican Women Leaders Forum here this week. Linking their cause to the "Ain't I a Woman?" refrain of Sojourner Truth, the 19th century former slave and suffragist, and Republican President Abraham Lincoln's freeing of slaves, the black GOP activists complained that party leaders repeatedly exclude them from organizing activities.

It's easy for Cathie Wright, the senior elected Republican woman in California, to organize a caucus of GOP women in the state Senate. All she has to do is walk into one of the Capitol's meeting rooms, pull up a chair and have a nice long talk with herself. "I agree all the time," she said wryly. "The nicest part is I'm always right." Wright, who is from Simi Valley, is the sole Republican woman in the upper house, which as recently as three years ago boasted three.