Washington, DC — In abortion politics there is an emerging political juggernaut: EMILY's List. The pro-abortion political action committee is quickly becoming one of the biggest payers financially in Congressional politics.
“We are huge,” declared Ellen R. Malcolm, president and founder of the group, which backs pro-abortion-rights Democrats. “We are the biggest fundraiser of 'hard money' other than the parties in the country.”
EMILY's List doesn't just give money to candidates. It mobilizes 68,000 supporters to send individual checks; it does more polling than the Democratic National Committee; it runs TV ads for and against candidates; it staffs campaigns; it provides strategic advice.
Already a major player, EMILY's List will only gain in stature with the enactment of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act. While the national parties are struggling to figure out how to survive without “soft money” — large donations often exceeding $100,000 from corporations, unions and individuals — EMILY's List is free to continue to raise both hard and soft money, and to pursue its true specialty: the bundling of small contributions into large packets of cash for favored candidates.
“We are the essence of campaign finance reform,” Malcolm recently told supporters. The new legislation “does absolutely nothing to change the way we support our candidates. . . . It actually makes us even more powerful.”
A candidate must meet three qualifications to be considered for an EMILY's List endorsement:
• back abortion, including the right to late-term abortions;
• be a Democrat; and
• in primary elections, be a woman.
EMILY's List is the counterpart to political action committees on the pro-life side such as the National Right to Life PAC and the Susan B. Anthony List. However, EMILY's List has quickly risen to the top of the list of PAC spending.
The NRA was the top political action committee fundraiser in the 1999-2000 election cycles, at $17.9 million. Emily's List was second, at $14.6 million, although Malcolm pointed out that her group raised an additional $3.3 million for Democratic parties in 13 battleground states, making them virtually equal.
The Democratic Party views EMILY's List as crucial in general elections. In 2000, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee gave the group $1.3 million in soft money. The ability of EMILY's List to mobilize women's voters has been viewed by some Democratic activists as essential to victory in close contests.
In recent months, however, as EMILY's List has flexed its muscles in several Democratic primaries, its role has become increasingly controversial. The group angered many Clinton loyalists when it backed pro-abortion ex-state representative Nancy Kaszak (D) against former White House aide Rahm Emanuel in a Chicago area congressional primary. Emanuel supports abortion, but EMILY's List spent over $400,000 on ads attacking him for his support of NAFTA.
“Washington insider Rahm Emanuel says he fights for working people,”, the ads declared. “But Emanuel led the fight for the NAFTA trade agreement, which cost Illinois more than 11,000 jobs.”
Despite its seemingly non-germane focus on NAFTA, Malcolm defended the ad, contending that in the group's 17-year history, “this is not anything new.” She said EMILY's List endorsed then-Rep. Barbara A. Mikulski in her 1986 senatorial primary against then-Rep. Michael Barnes (D), who had much of the party's establishment backing.
Emanuel defeated Kaszak, and now EMILY's List is in an uphill fight in another primary against an abortion advocate — this time pro-abortion Rep. Nancy Rivers (D-MI) versus pro-abortion Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) in a contest pitting two incumbents together because of redistricting in Michigan.
Dingell, is a legendary Democratic icon and the former chairman and now ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Dingell has for the past two decades been viewed as one of the most powerful Democratic figures in Washington. He has always had strong support from his working-class Dearborn district.
Now, portions of Dingell's district have been merged with Rivers's, including the precincts of Ann Arbor, where abortion is strongly backed by Democratic primary voters. The district favors Dingell, but EMILY's List contends that its polling — which gives Dingell a 52 to 44 advantage over Rivers — also shows him vulnerable to attacks on abortion.
“Voters in this district are pro-choice,” Diane Feldman, the pollster wrote, contending that voters “move dramatically toward Rivers on [abortion].” According to Feldman, voters sided with Rivers over Dingell 66 to 28.
For pro-life advocates, it's nice to see EMILY's List taking on their own and spending money simply to simply replace one pro-abortion member of Congress with another. However, not all contests EMILY's List enters will feature supporters of abortion dueling each other. Pro-life advocates must contribute to pro-life political action committees to help the pro-life side remain competitive politically.
For the full story, see The Washington Post.
For additional information on the Susan B. Anthony List, click here.
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email [email protected].)
