CNN reported on some who say single women voters are "stupid," "slutty, anxious female[s]"
SUMMARY: Discussing young female voters' support for presidential candidate Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton, CNN's Carol Costello asserted, "[I]f Hillary Clinton can
persuade these young, single women to vote for her, many say she will win. And
those who oppose Clinton know that. That's why they're calling
these young women voters stupid." She added, "[T]he online magazine Jezebel
dubbed them the elusive, slutty, anxious female, that's slutty in a political
sense of course," a reference to a June 14 Jezebel item with the headline:
"Barack Obama Lures Elusive Slutty Anxious Female Demographic."
During a November 1 report on CNN's The Situation Room about young female voters' support for presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), correspondent Carol Costello asserted, "[I]f Hillary Clinton can persuade these young, single women to vote for her, many say she will win. And those who oppose Clinton know that. That's why they're calling these young women voters stupid." After referring to young female voters as "single anxious females," a reference to single women voters roughly between the ages of 18 and 44, Costello aired a clip of the YouTube video "Obama girl," and stated, "This particular group may be anxious about the war, healthcare, and equal pay but they are notoriously difficult to get to the polling booths, prompting some to say they are more interested in showing off than in true political activism." She added, "[T]he online magazine Jezebel dubbed them the elusive, slutty, anxious female, that's slutty in a political sense of course," a reference to a June 14 Jezebel item with the headline: "Barack Obama Lures Elusive Slutty Anxious Female Demographic," which discussed the "Obama girl" video.
In a November 2 item, Jezebel discussed Costello's reference to its headline, noting: "We were brought into the convo [during the Situation Room segment] when we covered the Obama girl video and said that he [Obama] has 'The Elusive Slutty Anxious Female Demographic' behind him." The item stated: "First of all, like, duh, it's a joke ... kinda. But secondly, we don't really sling around the term 'slutty' as an insult around these parts. It's more of a qualifier."
Costello also reported on a recent survey commissioned by the political network Emily's List, which found that 49 percent of Democratic women primary voters aged 18-44 in New Jersey, Georgia, and Arizona said they would vote for Clinton in the February 5 primary election. She later aired a video clip in which MSNBC's Tucker Carlson asked, "Do you think that people who are voting on the basis of gender solidarity ought to be allowed to vote in a perfect world?" In the clip aired on CNN, Carlson answered his own question: "Of course they shouldn't be allowed to vote on those grounds. That's like -- that's moronic." But Costello did not report that the Emily's List survey also found that "[m]ost Democratic women won't choose their presidential nominee based on gender." The survey asked respondents, "On a scale of zero to 10, how important is it to you that Hillary Clinton would be the first woman President?" Forty-seven percent rated it 0-5 or "not very important," while 15 percent rated it 6-7 or "somewhat important"; only 37 percent rated it 8-10 or "very important."
After noting that "being pigeonholed this way makes some young women steam" and caused "angry sarcasm about who they might vote for," Costello concluded, "Of course all of this "stupid girl" talk may drive female voters to the polls. Hillary Clinton certainly hopes so."
From the 7 p.m. ET hour of the November 1 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
WOLF BLITZER (host): Young, single women are increasingly throwing their support to Hillary Clinton. Can they do for her, let's say, what evangelical Christians did for President Bush? CNN's Carol Costello is here in The Situation Room watching this.
This is an incredibly important demographic for Hillary Clinton.
COSTELLO: Oh, it's so important, Wolf. I mean, if Hillary Clinton can persuade these young, single women to vote for her, many say she will win. And those who oppose Clinton know that. That's why they're calling these young women voters stupid.
[begin video clip]
COSTELLO: 2008 could well be the year of the woman. Or rather the single, anxious female. According to new research by Emily's List, a political network for Democratic women, they might just put Hillary Clinton in the White House. Emily's List conducted a survey of young likely Democratic women voters in three primary states: Georgia, New Jersey, and Arizona. Forty-nine percent say they'll vote for Clinton. And they're excited a woman is in the running.
COSTELLO: Is that a record?
MAREN HESLA (Emily's List): It may be a record, given how crowded the field is right now.
COSTELLO: This is not lost on Clinton herself, who preached to the choir as she stumped at Wellesley College.
CLINTON: In so many ways, this all-women's college prepared me to compete in the all-boys club of presidential politics.
COSTELLO: But maybe Clinton is wasting her energy. This particular group may be anxious about the war, health care, and equal pay, but they are notoriously difficult to get to the polling booths, prompting some to say they're more interested in showing off than in true political activism.
[video clip of "I Got a Crush on Obama" by "Obama Girl"]
COSTELLO: For this, the online magazine Jezebel dubbed them the elusive, slutty, anxious female -- that's slutty in a political sense, of course. Not surprisingly, conservatives don't like this particular type of voter either. Author Ann Coulter called them stupid, going on to say it was her pipe dream to take away a woman's right to vote, and she wasn't the only one saying that.
CARLSON: Do you think that people who are voting on the basis of gender solidarity ought to be allowed to vote in a perfect world?
[crosstalk]
CARLSON: Of course they shouldn't be allowed to vote on those grounds. That's like -- that's moronic.
COSTELLO: Even feminist author Naomi Wolf, who worked on Al Gore's 2004 campaign, described SAFs as bubbly, kind of like Melanie Griffith's character in the movie Working Girl.
GRIFFITH: I don't usually have a bunny on my desk, but it was my birthday a few days ago.
COSTELLO: But being pigeonholed this way makes some young women steam.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't agree with that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an outrage.
COSTELLO: And there was angry sarcasm about who they might vote for, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe Hillary. Because I'm an idiot.
[end video clip]
COSTELLO: Of course, all of this "stupid girl" talk may drive female voters to the polls. Hillary Clinton certainly hopes so.
BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much. Carol Costello watching this voting bloc, this demographic for us.
Wow , the sexist hate is making its way deep into the msm as we get closer t Iowa, CNN should be downright ashamed.
As I read this, my jaw dropped. I am appalled that some degrade intellectual property to the Don Imus degree. CNN should hang its head in shame for not censuring these people with a public verbal flogging.
This has got to be a test. How else do you explain the fact that republicans are doing their damnest to throw away the black vote, the mexican vote, any other minority vote I left out, the gay vote, the female vote and easily 50% of the military vote? Some "expert" thought it would be a good idea to see if republicans can win with only the white male vote - how else do you explain these dummies calling everyone in the country stupid? Who wins by going "You're stupid, vote for me if you want to redeem yourself"?
That's a good poing I thought about that as well. I'm thinking that these current GOP candidates are doing that till one of them gets the nomination. One he does, then he'll start to lean to the left some. They can't win otherwise if they don't.
Well, I sure hope someone on the dem side records this. These snippets should be turned into commercials and played over and over again, put into country music, howard stern, and every single time the dem candidate is on a major news channel have them go "I have a tape I want to play while I'm here".
LIMBAUGH spent most of today (Friday) telling women voters how much Democrats despise them, disrespect them, take them for granted, expect them to vote "from the waist down" ... and of course indicating that if any woman were to actually use their BRAIN, they would vote Republican. (If a woman supports Hillary, it's a vote from the womb, uninformed by intelligence. Classy!)
Yup, I can see that disrespect seeping everywhere; you're STUPID if you don't do as I say!
Ironically, within that same hour, Limbaugh gave advice to a young married man about buying one of his "Number" beds. "Just be a man, make the decision." thrice-divorced Limbaugh advised, "It's too important a decision" to let the wife have input. Whoo-boy!
* OFF TOPIC ALERT*
Tex, I caught some of the Oxymoron's show this am, and was wondering if anybody else heard what was, even by Rush's standards, one of the most ass-backwards premises in history.
A few days ago, Sean Hannity made his remarks about Halloween being a liberal holiday ( with the handouts, and all), and several posters commented on the righty media's ability to spin almost anything into a smear of all thing UnRepublican.
With that fresh in my head, I heard Rush today mention an item about the effects of oil wealth on Muslims in oil-rich countries.According to this item, hard work is not valued in these societies, and most of the children of these Muslim oil tycoons do not have jobs.
He went on that most labor jobs are being filled by Koreans and Pakistanis if I remember right.
So, what we have is a very traditional, conservative society, based on religious fundamentalism, and divided into distinct economic classes by the effects of unfettered capitalism.(I'm betting the oil moguls are very anti-"Death-tax" on behalf of their idle rich offspring)
And El Rshbo turns this scenario into a cautionary tale about the dangers of...?
LIBERALISM!
I shlt you not, he made a connection between the children of the Middle East oil regions who don't work because they are wealthy beyond any need, and the Democrats who want to keep people poor and unemployed in order to expand government.
I think Rush may not be "working his program".How do semi-functioning adults swallow that crap?
semi-functioning adults is a pretty good term for Limbaugh listeners. (I don't count you, HBL :) )
So they're following the Spainish Model then. If all that New World gold and silver did the people of Spain any good, it was probably by accident.
HBL:
Your catch is right on! I LOVE the direct contradictions these Rightwing bloviators sometimes attempt, ASS-BACKWARDS is the proper term.
I remember in a college class, the economics professor was trying to show that environmental concerns were handled much better in our capitalist society, because LOOK AT THE USSR. That "communist" country was polluted beyond all rationality, and the professor contended it was "communism" to blame. Then, of course, his pitch AGAINST allowing the "Liberals/communists" in America to dictate environmental policy, lest America become just like the USSR with pollution rampant.
The problem with this argument was, of course, that in the USSR, all business was RUN and OWNED by the only entity able to enforce regulations to protect the people: The central government! Because watchdogs and owners were one in the same, OF COURSE they didn't enforce any anti-pollution measures that would cut into productivity.
The LESSON of the USSR was DO NOT HAVE THE SAME PEOPLE who own and run the industries ALSO be the ones expected to enforce any regulations ON those industries.
In America under Bush, it's all 'voluntary compliance' when it comes to businesses and industry. Bush trusts the foxes to properly guard the henhouse. It is THIS structure that duplicates the USSR, not anything inherent in communism or liberalism.
Ass-Backwards. The shrinks also call it "PROJECTION", which is blaming others for the things which one does oneself.
Limbaugh took this tactic national, with his "spin" on every Rightwing issue. Instead of HATING poor people, Limbaugh brought out the idea that the Rightwing LOVE poor people, and that is why they shouldn't be coddled and helped; helping them would destroy their work ethic, would enslave them in dependency, etc., and if we LOVE them, we wouldn't burden them by helping them. It would ruin their lives, goes this Rightwing spin (which is handy in that it STILL calls for the Rightwing to do absolutely nothing to help anyone, it merely justifies the greedy and insensitive policy by portraying it as 'tough love'.)
So, great catch, HBL. When you hear a Rightwinger talking, chances are great that the exact OPPOSITE of what he says is the truth.
Sometimes I think Rush pushes the envelope to test the gullibility of his audience. Some of the convoluted logic he belches out is so ridiculous that no thinking person could possibley believe it.
The female vote is not a minority it is a majority
Regardless of the actual numbers, white males will always think of everybody else as the minority.
I am a white male and I dont think that way
That's a very good idea. Especially if Hillary wins the nomination. I'm sure there will be a mess load of negative adds against her if she does. Anyone who wins the Dem nomination needs to use things like this to their advantage, because Bush and whoever wins the Repub nomination will be playing the terror card for all it's worth.
(Intersting that the word "sl*tty" is part of the article, and yet MMFA is blocking me from spelling it out, even in quotes....blocked as profane.)
Nothing from any of the cable "news" channels surprises me anymore. They make this statement, and then thry try and spin it into something better sounding.....so they don't mean "sl*tty" in the sl*tty sense....just politcal sl*ttiness. Glad they cleared that up. Costello: "....that's sl*tty in a political sense of course."
What's interesting is that they seem oblivious to the fact that single young women vote Republican as well. But then maybe that is where they get their inspiration for these news features. Britany Spears, and Ann Coulter come to mind.
Al Gore ran in 2004? ;-)
COSTELLO: Even feminist author Naomi Wolf, who worked on Al Gore's 2004 campaign, described SAFs as bubbly, kind of like Melanie Griffith's character in the movie Working Girl.
Good catch, gray...they can't even get their facts straight on that.
Cool. I wish I had known how to lure that particular demographic when I was younger. I would've had more fun.
What we're witnessing right now is, and was, predictable. When the civil rights, women's rights and gay rights movements succeeded in the sixties and seventies it was clear that the existing power structure would entrench to maintain the status quo and the white male power structure that has controlled it. Expect things to get a lot nastier in the next ten to twenty years/
All of that upheaval led to the rise of conservatism and societal shift to right, even among older dems, thus the DLC. As we all know, change is inevitable and the loss of power stings. I advise my conservatives friends to accept the fact that the status quo is officially dead! Even if Hillary, Obama, Richardson lose, they've blazed trail for future candidates.The fifties are not coming back so get used to it.
I just can't get used to the idea that this is the kind of thing that passes for "news" these days. A vapid, blond "reporter" quoting Ann Coulter, some online teen girl magazine I've never heard of, and somebody who was on Tucker Carlson as the "some people" who think young, single women are stupid for voting for Hillary. Stop the presses! What a scoop! And what was that Naomi Wolf quote? Bubbly? What does that mean and how does it apply to this story? I'm dumbfounded by how much dumb I found in this story - or whatever this is. They're just making it up as they go along, aren't they?
Carrol Costello has a long track record bashing Dems or liberals, since she took over the positon from Zain Verjay , and I still think she was put in place to to play that roll , which she seems to do naturally , with ease .
Can i officially rename the " Situation Room " to the SPECULATION ROOM , run by the monotone , Wolf Blitzer ,self congratulating carnival barker "part of the best political team " with very little NEWS, mostly inside fighting, and innuendos and job program for JC watts and other has beens , to push their biased opinions .
Since when is it "news" to repeat eVERY pathetic allegation made by the right .
Is it just me or is CNN not actually saying anything bad here? They are making a point to say "Hillary's opponents are saying this to get her votes away from her..." if anything, this is a left-leaning expose about the underhandedness of her opponents.
Imagine that you are a young, single, woman. Any chance that anything Costello said is the slightest bit offensive and untrue? If you can't put yourself in that position, then yes, it is just you.
No one likes to be stereotyped, particularly those whose power has been greatly limited by those stereotypes and who are frequently insulted with no basis in fact, and no accountability for the insulter.
According to Tuckie: "Of course they shouldn't be allowed to vote on those grounds. That's like -- that's moronic."
By that logic, should we also disallow those who vote on the grounds of other single issues...like Gay Marriage? Or "Christian values"? Or abortion?
Don't worry; Tucker is planning a campaign to prevent voting by:
--AARP members, for candidates who vote in ways that could benefit retired persons;
--lobbyists for big corporations and the wealthy for candidates who support tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy;
--all people who believe a candidate might act in some way in their interest,
etc., etc.
He's as fair and balanced as his competitors at Fox.
Take a long, deep breath folks. Smell that. Ahh! Smells like change, with a hint of fear. As an earlier conservative poster said, quite eloquently I might add, the 50's are done. The power structure in this country no longer depends on you being a white, married Christian male. And its about damn time that our democracy became a true democracy that is governed BY THE PEOPLE, and not only a segment of the population. The nasty bile we've been hearing against Hillary since two years before she announced running for president, is to be expected. Hank Aaron heard much of the same as he opened new doors. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. heard much of the same as he opened new doors. So Clinton and Obama must endure for future generations, as good ole American Hatred rears her ugly head again. But this time it may be too late. This time Hatred may find that she is outnumbered and her cousin Intolerance is no longer welcomed. This time we may bring about true change. And nothing scares a "staunch" republican more than true change.