A word with Elise Stefanik, Parts 1 and 2

How the Pink Wave Turned Red

Power Line Blog  . . . "I asked Rep. Stefanik whether singling out women candidates for support was a function of identity politics. She said the depleted ranks of Republican women in Congress did not reflect the party’s support by women voters. She looks for strong conservative Republican women candidates and stays out of races where they are lacking or where the Republican man is the superior candidate to a woman. She thinks that her emphasis on quality represents a recipe for success. “You can look at the proof,” she said, citing the number of seats flipped by outstanding women candidates in targeted races this year.

She gave President Trump “huge credit” for his work in broadening the Republican coalition and energizing voters of all stripes to turn out to vote this year, but pointed “number 1” to the quality of the candidates. She noted their fire in the belly and will to serve. She emphasized the sexist abuse directed at Republican women from the Pelosi PAC and others on the left as sexist smears are heaped on them.

Such smears are indulged on the left when aimed right, she said, and she was speaking from personal experience. She was the target of a smear campaign originated by George Conway during the impeachment proceedings. Conway called her “lying trash.” See the unedifying exchanges documented here by USA Today.

"I’d like to save the rest of my notes for a concluding post tomorrow. Please check back for more in the morning."

A word with Elise Stefanik part 2  . . . "I mentioned to Rep. Stefanik how much I admired women standing up to run for office on our side because of the abuse to which they subject themselves. Unlike their Democratic counterparts, the abuse won’t be offset by features glamorizing them in the fashion magazines. We’re not holding our breath for Stefanik’s 2020 class to be featured by Glamour in a shot like this one, for example.

“You need a thick skin,” she said, “and it’s not just women.” She cited Senator Tim Scott. “They are vicious and vile” — you know who “they” are — “and they can get away with it because the media allow them to.”

She noted that Nancy Pelosi’s super PAC devoted special attention to fending off Republican women candidates. This is the subtext of the Politico story “Pelosi-aligned super PAC adds $18M to fall ad buys.”

POLITICS NOV. 12, 2020 How the Pink Wave Turned Red  ..."The GOP did indeed have a historic Election Night: There will be at least 13 Republican non-incumbent women in the freshman class of the House of Representatives in 2021, surpassing the party’s previous record of nine such candidates in 2010. This brings the total number to 26 — woefully behind Democrats, who will have 88 women in the House in 2021 (down one from 2018), but Republican women — who helped flip at least six seats — are being touted as an emergent force."...