Needless to say, this is great news:
For more than a decade, Barack Obama has said "yes" to women's rights, while John McCain has consistently said "no" - NO to pay equity, NO to contraceptive access and reproductive rights, NO to appointing Supreme Court judges who will uphold women's rights and civil rights, NO to funding shelters and other anti-violence programs, and NO to supporting working moms and dads with policies that support work/life balance.NOW supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primary, and now we join with her in saying "NO" -- No Way, No How, No McCain! And we proudly stand arm-in-arm with her in putting our hopes and our dreams, our hard work and our hard-earned money, behind the next President of the United States -- Barack Obama, and his running mate, longtime friend and ally of women, Sen. Joe Biden.
Over at MyDD, Todd Beeton references NOW President Kim Gandy's comments this morning that, although NOW "very, very rarely endorses in a general election..."the addition of Sarah Palin gave us a new sense of urgency." Gandy elaborates about Palin:
"She is being portrayed as a supporter of women's rights ... as a feminist when in fact her positions on so many of the issues are really anathema to ours," Gandy said. [...]"The idea that she opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest -- those kinds of positions are completely out of step with American women and once they find out about those positions, they get a little less excited about a woman running for vice president," Gandy said.
And they didn't even mention that "[w]hen Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the town suddenly started charging rape victims between $300 and $1200 to have the rapist's DNA and other forensic evidence taken, tested, cataloged and investigated." Ee gads.
A lot of voters this election are sick and tired of being played by slick GOP marketing campaigns. When Republicans get into office, they make a habit out of screwing things up, and screw ordinary Americans over. How many voters will buy the GOP's phony populism and sudden recognition of women's rights? Some might, but on balance most union voters know that people like John McCain never have and never will have their best interests in mind.
Sarah Palin is against abortion even in cases of rape and incest - so it is mind blowing to think any of their members would even consider voting for McCain-Palin.