No Hillarys in the pipeline

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Hillary Clinton may be a leading contender for president in 2016, but this potential obscures a less inspiring reality: the bench of female political executives who could be presidential candidates is, at best, thin. Even if Clinton runs in 2016, it’s not clear who would be next. There's a reason for this.

There have been only 36 female governors in United States history. While there are far more Democratic women in Congress -- some of whom, like Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren, are on wish lists for national office -- Republicans tend to do far better when it comes to statewide office, which Barack Obama aside, is the traditional path to the top.

There are four female Republican governors in office -- Nikki Haley, Mary Fallin, Susana Martinez and Jan Brewer -- while Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire just became the only Democrat. Meanwhile, President Obama took two Democratic female governors out of the executive game when he picked Janet Napolitano and Kathleen Sebelius for his Cabinet. Next year might be better for Democratic women: While Barbara Buono has an uphill climb against Chris Christie in New Jersey, Rep. Allyson Schwartz intends to run against Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, already nationally infamous for saying women who didn’t want to be forced to look at ultrasounds before an abortion should just close their eyes.

Sci-fi writer makes $50,000 for charity off of his “troll”

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:45:00 +0000

Here's how you beat the trolls: Turn their hatred into cash for charities they despise.

That's what science-fiction writer John Scalzi has done -- and in the process, he's raised more than $50,000 in pledges for Emily's List and the Human Rights Campaign, specially chosen to earn the ire of a blogger Scalzi calls "my racist sexist homophobic dipshit."

Every time Scalzi's online nemesis -- a former WorldNetDaily columnist who writes under the name Vox Day -- used his name or called someone by a derogatory nickname, Scalzi set aside $5 for charity -- and his readers pitched in, too, raising tens of thousands for charities designed to uplift women, minorities and gays. Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network and the NAACP also benefit; Scalzi capped his own donation at $1,000 and his readers took over from there.

"The whole point of this is not to intimidate him to stop speaking. You will not get this guy to stop speaking. He sees this as a contest, as a battle of wills," said Scalzi, in an interview with Salon. Giving money to charities like RAINN and the NAACP is, he says, "an extra stab in the eye."

Salon.com > emily's list

No Hillarys in the pipeline

Sci-fi writer makes $50,000 for charity off of his “troll”