Marin Misleading Women
Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin must feel sorry for Judy Baar Topinka, and I can't say I blame her. Penniless after a bruising primary which left her party divided, Topinka has been hit repeatedly by Blagojevich with a Velvet Hammer since Election Day, and she's been caught flat-footed each time. I guess Marin felt the need to come to the aid of a "sister," but this Sunday's column rewrites history to do it.
Marin's entire column is based on the false premise that Governor Blagojevich is a late and insincere convert to so-called "women's issues." There's a few problems with that theory. First, the issues Blagojevich is campaigning on -- education, health care, reproductive choice, gun control, and fair wages for a fair days work -- are issues Blagojevich has been talking about almost non-stop since his first race for Governor in 2002, and issues on which he has a track record of achievement.
Secondly, those same issues aren't merely "women's issues", they are core Democratic issues and core working class issues. Marin should know that Illinois is a blue state, and that in order to win, you have to win on all, or atleast some, Democratic issues.
But, to back up her false portrayal, Marin says that immediately after the primary election, Blagojevich started running ads featuring women talking about education and health care. Here are her exact words:
That's why his campaign immediately after the primary launched a TV ad starring nothing but women. Blago is the only guy in sight amid a chorus of female voices singing his praises on education.In a second commercial, a woman opens and closes the ad devoted to health care for kids and seniors. Breast cancer gets prominent play.
Well, Marin clearly didn't do her homework, because as everybody with a t.v. and every Illinoize reader knows, these ads started running weeks before the Primary Election.
In another embarrassing misrepresentation, if you watch the health care ad, you'll see that breast cancer didn't get any more "prominent play" than prescription drugs for seniors or any other health care issue.
Blagojevich's consultants also know that in the world of politics, women make a much more trustworthy surrogates.
Marin also either completely missed the boat or is covering for Topinka when she fails to note that all of these issues not only define what Blagojevich and the Democratic Party stand for, but they also define what Topinka and the Republicans are against. Marin can call Topinka "sister" all she wants, but the fact is that Topinka is on the wrong side of these issues up and down the line, as far as most "sisters" -- heck, most voters -- are concerned.
Marin says that "What she [Topinka] needs to do is get the 'vision thing.' And quick." But Topinka has a Vision. Topinka said she opposes the assault weapons ban. Topinka said she doesn't think we should have expanded health care and early childhood education for kids, or provided more K-12 funding for our schools. Topinka supports legislation that is vehemently opposed by the state's largest pro-choice groups, and Topinka opposed raising the minimum wage.
You see Ms. Marin, Topinka has a Vision, it's just not a Vision that's particularly appealing to most voters in general or women in particular. Maybe Marin thinks women should vote for Topinka just because she's a "sister", but I think voters should hope that elected leaders share more in common with them than just their gender, the color of their skin, or even just their party label.
Team Blagojevich is setting Topinka up early, defining the issues for the campaign. They'll poke her every know and then with some smaller issues, but at some point they will open the flood gates with ads that completely paint Topinka into the margins.
I'll have more specifically to say on Carol and Judy's budget priorities later this week. Suffice it to say, I think Marin's effort to equate providing quality heath care and education for children with one of her shopping sprees for more jewelry and shoes is obscene, and so would most parents who are struggling to provide these things for their kids. Besides, does anybody really believe Carol Marin has ever said 'No' to a shopping spree? Maybe she'll tell us how many pairs of shoes she owns next Sunday.
15 comments:
YDD – Interesting post.
I am not a huge fan on Marin, and I don’t think that anyone should vote for anyone else simply based on a shared gender or race. I guess we have some common ground there.
But there are some key points to take issue with. First and foremost, your assertion that Rod has caught Judy “flat-footed” with his attacks. I just don’t see it. The invitation to debate (understood as a stunt by everyone with a brain) was quickly and effectively rebutted with Judy essentially saying ‘fine, as long as Rev. Meeks gets a podium as well.’ Will Rod accept those terms? Looks like the ball is back in his court on that one.
And the seatbelt thing? How about the $12.8 million in federal traffic safety funds that Blago has yet to spend. Personally, I wear my seatbelt everytime I drive, and I pay taxes. Which do you think is more important to me in terms of traffic safety – a 20 year old vote against making what I do on my own a state mandate, or 13 mil in tax dollars not being spent on improving aspects of traffic safety that ARE under the sole perview of the state?
Also, as far as Topinka’s vision – you are confusing methods with goals:
Does Topinka want to end tragic gun violence in our street? Yes, that is part of her vision. She disagrees with Rod on the means necessary to achieve that.
Does Topinka want better healthcare and education for our children? Yes, she just has a different view of how to go about it. One that recognizes that there is more to it than throwing money around….particularly when we don’t have the money to begin with unless we rob Peter to pay Paul.
Topinka supports legislation that is supported by the majority of citizens in our society, regardless of what special-interest lobby groups like Planned Parenthood think. Sound to me like her vision is more universally accepted than Rod’s on this issue.
Topinka also opposes a state mandated minimum wage level that will make Illinois the most expensive place of all it’s neighbors in which to operate your business. A minimum wage only increases your income if you have a wage to begin with….something less likely under Rod’s vision for our economy.
But, hey….two can play this game, right? Rod’s vision: Scapegoating away the negative effects of his party’s corruption and mismanagement of public safety in Chicago. Bankrupting our state with unaffordable, yet easy to pass legislative solutions to complex societal problems…..I can go on, but I think you get my point.
We all want the same things, Yellow Dog. We just have different ideas of how to get them. Both, undeniably, have negative unintended consequences at times. But let’s not pretend like the differences between the parties is that one wants whats best while the other doesn’t. Aren’t we better than that? Won’t we get closer to real solutions when we break out of that rhetorical paradigm?
Dog, though you do it in a very articulate way, you're not as persuasive when you are being so clearly partisan (though that is certainly what "yellow dog" is intended to convey). Years ago I lost all illusion that my party or yours had any monopoly on virtue or character. It makes life intellectually a lot easier. You should try it.
BTW, Yellow Dog. Everytime I hear a Democrat promoting Hillary Clinton's candidacy based on it being "time for a woman President," i'll remember that - apparently - it's not time for a woman governor in Illinois.
One of the things that annoys me about Blagojevich is his "education" campaign on gender pay disparities. He claims women earn $0.71 on the dollar men earn in Illinois. If there was actually a study that said this, I'd be curious about the methodology. But let's assume G-Rod has his facts right.
What's Blagojevich doing about this pay disparity? Does he see it as a public policy problem that needs fixing or is he just nurturing a grudge with female voters for political purposes?
Here's what I've noticed. Government jobs that go to women, like teachers, are underpaid when compared to government jobs that go to men, like janitors and cops. If Blagojevich wanted to reduce the pay disparity along gender lines, is there anything that stops him from introducing legislation that equalizes pay in government jobs?
It seems Blagojevich thinks the pay disparity issue is important enough to rile up female voters, but it's not important enough to take on public sector unions.
YDD,
Blagojevich isn't defining issues of the campaign so much as trying like hell to get his disapprovals down and approvals up in time for when the campaign really starts because if he doesn't all the millions he has to spend on negative Topinka ads will mean nothing because he'll have no credibility with voters.
GOP -- It doesn't matter anymore how Topinka voted 20 years ago, because her campaign said that she opposes mandatory seatbelt and carseat laws TODAY.
And I agree that two can - and will - play at that game. I'm just warning you now that if Topinka thinks she's going to win by talking about corruption, she's wrong. The most recent poll shows that only 4% of Illinoisans rank corruption as their top issue. #1? Education. #2? Health care. Do you really think the answer they are looking for from their next Governor is "That's not the state's problem"? Because that sure seems like Topinka's position.
Steve -- I really admire you alot. I don't think either party has a lock on virtue or character, and I'm not arguing Rod is a virtuous guy. Remember, I supported Vallas in 2002, and I argued on this website that Democrats should skip the Governor's race this primary, to send a message to the Governor to clean up his House. But you know as well as I do that he did not create this pension problem. We both know that Illinois' pension system was 89% fully funded in 1999, and it was the economic recession, exacerbated by 9/11, that cost our state $14 bilion when the stock market fell. That's not Blagojevich's fault, and if you value bipartisanship as much as you say, you could be out there in the press using your prestige to set the record straight, because the pension system will never be fixed until folks admit that both parties had a role to play in this problem long before Blagojevich was elected Governor.
We also know that in this recession, Blagojevich is faced with the same choices Gov. Edgar faced. We both know that Governors have almost no control over the economy, and that due to it's position in the national economy, Illinois is one of the last states to enter into a recession but also one of the last to come out. While we wait, the question facing us is, where do we invest the tax dollars we have, since we don't have enough to go around? JBT says we shouldn't be investing in our kids' health or their education, that that money should go to provide tax breaks for companies and to boost public employee pension funds. Well, I haven't heard about state employees not getting their pension checks, nor have I seen any evidence of Illinois companies going belly-up due to the tax changes, but I do know what happens when kids can't get in to see a primary care physician or our education system let's them fall further behind.
I won't defend Rod's virtue, but I can tell you I think he's staked out all of the right positions on these issues, both politically and for the state's future. I am a state pension holder, and I don't mind waiting a year or two for our tax revenues to rebound. And I think Topinka is making a big mistake by not picking and choosing her battles more carefully. It takes two to make a partisan issue. Right now, what ever Rod says he's for, she feels the need to come out and say she's against. He's totally controlling the agenda, and that is a recipe for disaster for her campaign.
Carl - You are right to recognize that pay for traditional female jobs is lower. It's the old law of supply and demand. When the only jobs women could get were as teachers, nurses or domestic workers, those employers had a captive labor pool, keeping salaries artificially low. Not to long ago, an individual with a Masters Degree in Child Development was only making $10/hour working for a child care center. Pretty low pay for such an important profession.
But the 71 cents figure actually refers to individuals working in the same profession. Basically, because men are mostly in charge of deciding who gets the raises, the raises mostly go to other men. In the old days, they used to justify it by saying that the man had a family to support. Now they just do it. Enforcement is tough though, because a women who feels she's been treated unfairly really has to show a pattern of discrimination, and that information is much tougher to amass, unlike promotion policies.
At the end of the day, it's not a top issue for many voters, but it is another issue that let's professional women know that the Governor is "in touch with their issues".
Anon 3:17 -- who says you can't do both at once? The old saying "He who defines the terms, wins the war" applies here.
GOP -- I agree, voting for a candidate because she's a woman or a minority makes as much sense as voting against them for the same reason. However, if it's a choice between Hillary Clinton and four more years of Bush policies, I'll take Clinton
There’s a difference between say “that’s not the state’s problem” and saying “the state (and state money) isn’t the only and/or most effective solution”……wouldn’t you agree? I’d argue that Judy’s position (and my own), is more the latter than the former.
In regards to not voting either for or against anyone soley based on gender, I couldn't agree more.
YDD, show me the study that says women earn $0.71 on the male dollar in the same jobs with the same seniority.
It seems to be an article of faith among feminists that this study exists. The most specific lead I've heard is that there was a study of employment in France at some time in the past.
If Blagojevich were serious about policy--and I'm convinced he isn't--he could get Illinois to survey the pay differential annually and hold the state gov't accountable for reducing inequities over time.
But Blagojevich could care less. He merely wants to put up signs at gov't expense that give female voters a specific target for their anger. Then G-Rod's gonna do his best "I feel your pain."
Amy, I'm no Blagojevich fan, but a 3% increase in students passing tests in one year is outstanding.
It's not like the state has much control. The local school boards, administrators, collective bargaining agreements, etc. can't be changed by the state. At least they can't be changed much is one year.
Dog, I couldn't agree more. The Governor didn't create the pension problem. And, I personally like his agenda; stem cell research, health care for kids, expanded pre-school, additional investment in el and sec education. I don't even have real negative feelings about an assault weapon ban, though I don't think it will solve much.
And, I'm not arguing that the Governor's not virtuous. I'm simply saying that Judy's position on these initiatives doesn't strip her of virtue, and trying to call that the issue is far less that you are capable of.
You know as well as I do what the real problem is here, and so does Judy, and so, I imagine ,does the Governor. The Governor has what I believe is a good agenda, and Judy is right when she says we can't afford it right now. So, who's going to step up to the plate here? I fear no one.
By attacking the virtues of those who say we need to confront these real issues now, before the election, and not challenging those who want to proceed as if those issues don't exist, I'm afraid we don't do any real service other than partisan.
I would really like to see both candidates challenged on what needs to be done to get the State on more firm financial footing, and to what end. The disingenuity needs to end. If these are good programs, how are we going to pay for them? What are we really (not pretend) going to do about the pension problem? By the way, I doubt my candidate has any better answers that yours on that question. What are we going to do about gross funding disparities among school districts? You know and I know that problem will not be solved by simply increasing the formula by as much as possible each year; there simply isn't enough money for that, medicaid, and pensions.
There are several things I could criticise about this administration. I've never really seen any value in doing so, and I also know I spent a long time in a glass house. I would far rather be in dialogues about solutions.
So, that's what I was trying to say (in far fewer words) in my previous post.
Carol Marin lost any credibility when she started to pimp and promote Larry Dominick in Cicero with the conflict of interest law suit settlements, and sweetheart tow contracts, nepotism in hiring.
Dominick is turning the towns leadership into an all white town now. It is really sick. Marin is sick.
Amy Allen -- I'd have to go back and look up some old, old news releases, but if I remember correctly, that $1000 increase per pupil, when adjusted for inflation, turned out to be a $2 real increase.
But I think the real investment the Governor has made in education is early childhood learning programs, which experts say have the most dramatic outcomes. Of course, those kids haven't been tested for anything yet.
GOP - The state isn't the solution, eh? That would be an interesting position, but it's not Judy's. Go look at her website. The only idea she offers is putting more money into higher education, but she offers zero specifics. On health care, she says "As a candidate for Governor, I support extending health care protection to people who cannot afford it or who cannot obtain it, but these programs must be run efficiently." The only thing close to a specific she offers is shortening the payment cycle for doctors and hospitals. Again, she never says how she'll pay for it.
Carl - God as my witness, I'll try to find out where the number comes from.
Steve - I don't think I ever commented on Topinka's virtue. It's the position that she's taking on these issues that is all wrong. Heck, I'm not even sure they're her positions, or she's thought them through. I think she made the big mistake early on of jumping on the bandwagon during the primary, deciding that whe one of the other candidates attacked the Governor, she should to.
I try not to dispense too much free advice to Republicans, but if Topinka keeps issuing a partisan reaction every time the governor brings up a partisan issue, the election will inevitably have a partisan result. And in Illinois, that means Topinka loses. She's got enough of a monkey on her back with Joe Birkett and her support for swift reinstatement of the death penalty, she can't afford more mistakes. Whoever decided she should come out in opposition to mandatory car seat laws today should be flogged then fired.
I'd disagree that the state can't afford the Governor's priorities, but the relative cost of the two paths is in the eyes of the beholder. We can estimate pretty closely what the cost of delaying pension payments will be ten, twenty years down the road. What price tag do you put on a child that can't read, who's asthma goes unchecked, or a possible cure for cancer? In the Governor's mind, and in the hearts of many voters, those human costs far outweigh the dollars and cents of budget payments.
The simple solutions are zero-based budgeting, tax increases, defined contribution pension plans, and massive procurement reform/campaign finance reform, all of which have enough opposition in Springfield from one powerbroker or another to keep any of them from happening right now. It's enough to make me wish there still was a Reform Party, but then I remember Pat Buchanan took it over. Maybe I'll talk you into taking it back as the Reform Party candidate for Governor in 2010.
As for coming up with real, long term solutions to our longterm problems, my experience has been that that needs to take place before petitions are circulated, not after. But, if Topinka will take the Governor up on his challenge to hold ten debates, and those ten debates focus on ten different issues, as some blogger suggested, we might get some answers, especially if the questions come from experts like you and not more political reporters.
I haven't liked Marin's self agrandizement for a while now, but she has only become more of a legend in her own eyes since she was hired to replace host Bob Sirott on Chicago Tonight. She is a taking headv for the older female, I am too mature for nightly newscast anchor babe, like Mary Laney...
plus don't forget Carol is eastern european just like Judy...ethnic loyalty counts...
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