Women Join Up to Boost Clinton
Mrs. Cox, the 64-year-old artist, who had never previously been involved in a political campaign, went on to become a precinct captain in West Davenport, Iowa. She plans to spend up to eight hours a day, four to five days a week, phoning voters on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf in the weeks before the Feb. 1 caucus.
Ms. Cox is part of an army of women in Iowa and other early-nominating states that Mrs. Clinton and her allies are mobilizing in the final weeks before the caucus, a move that could give the former secretary of state’s campaign a boost as polls show Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders closing in on her lead in the state.
“Women gravitate toward her,” Mrs. Cox said, citing Mrs. Clinton’s strength under fire as one of the qualities that attracted her to the Democrat. “No matter what the situation, she is so levelheaded, she is so calm, she meets it with such absolute fierceness,” she said.
(snip)
Last weekend, four female U.S. senators converged on eastern Iowa to campaign on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf. The senators— Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri—talked up her record on women’s rights, in particular her pro-choice stance on abortion. Earlier this month, actress Lena Dunham of the HBO show “Girls” made a feminist pitch on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf to crowds in Iowa City and Des Moines, praising her handling of “gendered attacks” over the years.
Three women’s rights groups backing Mrs. Clinton are also rallying their operations in early-nominating states, turning out volunteers to knock on doors and make phone calls on her behalf.
(snip)
Several women volunteers cited Mrs. Clinton’s efforts for the Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge, Mass., where she worked after her graduation, as part of her appeal. “She is such an advocate for children and always has been,” Mrs. Cox said. The Clinton campaign and its allies have ramped up efforts to turn out women voters and volunteers. Emily’s List hosted an event in Des Moines on Saturday to rally volunteers for the caucus.
For the women, the appeal is about more than the potential of electing the first female president—although that is certainly a draw. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” said Kerry Bowen, a precinct caucus chairwoman in Windsor Heights, Iowa.
Rather, it is about what they say is at stake.
“I’ll do anything they need me to do,” said Emily’s List President Stephanie Schriock, who traveled to New Hampshire and South Carolina last week and will head to Iowa later this month to rally volunteers on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf. “Women are going to lose a lot of ground in this country and a lot of opportunities if the Republicans win this,” she said. “The stakes are very high.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/women-join-up-to-boost-clinton-1453164571
= new reply since forum marked as read
