Pelosi: Don't Let GOP Turn Back Clock on Women
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010.
(Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon)House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is suggesting in a letter to Democratic women that if they don't donate and show up to vote in the midterm elections it could mean a rollback of women's rights.
The letter includes a donation button that says "Don't Let the GOP Turn Back the Clock for Women," and reads in part: "Republicans have pledged to dismantle our most historic achievements for women and families, including a repeal of health insurance reform that has ended the days where being a woman in America qualifies as a pre-existing medical condition."
The letter also suggests - without support -- that "unless we stop the Republicans, this year may be the first year in 30 years that the number of women in Congress actually decreases."
Pelosi wrote the letter under the banner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is trying to raise $500,000 before Friday. It has targeted women voters to help reach that goal and mount a surge against Republicans with just three weeks left until the midterm elections.
"Women have the most to gain from this election," said Pelosi in the letter. "We also have the most to lose."
Women have historically been inclined to vote Democrat, and an Associated Press-GfK poll late last month found that among registered voters women prefer Democrats over Republicans by a 12-point margin.
"Since 2006, Democratic women have known their power in elections," Pelosi said in the letter.
Pelosi also suggests that Republicans could reverse the Lilly Ledbetter legislation offering greater equal pay rights to women if they take back either of houses of Congress.
In recent weeks, President Obama has reached out to African-Americans and college students - who heavily supported him in the 2008 election - in an effort to boost participation in the midterms by his party's base.
