Paramount Theatre
Men Do Well by Women's Political Caucus
RECEIVED Wed., April 26, 2006
To Michael King,
Have the men of the Women's Political Caucus done it again? Recently, men have fared quite well against very qualified women in caucus endorsement meetings.
How does this happen? For starters, quite a few men are members of WPC, including professional consultants and their cohorts. The membership fees aid the endorsing group. The pros only show up for endorsements and don't clutter up regular meetings of the faithful. No problem, right?
At the endorsement meeting for City Council Place 2, it was fascinating to watch politicians, women firefighters, and campaign staffers, flock to support well-spoken firefighter President Mike Martinez against (on paper) better-qualified, 20-year WPC member Eliza May. This looked like a repeat of the caucus' earlier endorsement of Eric Sheperd over Judge Elena Diaz. Mr. Sheperd and Mr. Martinez share the same professional consultant, David Butts, who is on retainer from the political action committees of the police and firefighters. They were all there to vote for their guy.
Of course losers always whine. But my good friend Eliza May did not lose. Against all odds, Eliza received the most votes in a dual endorsement with Mr. Martinez. She is PAC-less and is limited to $100 contributions, but she has a lot of friends.
Stacking the deck on endorsements is done all over town, everyone does it. But in men vs. women races, the Women's Political Caucus was off limits – too much backlash. There was a sense of shame about stacking a contest where the men have nothing to lose and politically active women have everything to lose. Apparently, in free-spending PAC-world, nothing is sacred except power. Until we have campaign finance reform, the line between good old hardball politics and something quite different will continue to blur.
Have the men of the Women's Political Caucus done it again? Recently, men have fared quite well against very qualified women in caucus endorsement meetings.
How does this happen? For starters, quite a few men are members of WPC, including professional consultants and their cohorts. The membership fees aid the endorsing group. The pros only show up for endorsements and don't clutter up regular meetings of the faithful. No problem, right?
At the endorsement meeting for City Council Place 2, it was fascinating to watch politicians, women firefighters, and campaign staffers, flock to support well-spoken firefighter President Mike Martinez against (on paper) better-qualified, 20-year WPC member Eliza May. This looked like a repeat of the caucus' earlier endorsement of Eric Sheperd over Judge Elena Diaz. Mr. Sheperd and Mr. Martinez share the same professional consultant, David Butts, who is on retainer from the political action committees of the police and firefighters. They were all there to vote for their guy.
Of course losers always whine. But my good friend Eliza May did not lose. Against all odds, Eliza received the most votes in a dual endorsement with Mr. Martinez. She is PAC-less and is limited to $100 contributions, but she has a lot of friends.
Stacking the deck on endorsements is done all over town, everyone does it. But in men vs. women races, the Women's Political Caucus was off limits – too much backlash. There was a sense of shame about stacking a contest where the men have nothing to lose and politically active women have everything to lose. Apparently, in free-spending PAC-world, nothing is sacred except power. Until we have campaign finance reform, the line between good old hardball politics and something quite different will continue to blur.
Vicki Bradley
