Extra Muddy Mud-Slinging
Smear campaigns are nothing new in politics and have certainly never been gender exclusive. But the consequences that female candidates pay when their integrity is questioned are much more severe than their male counterparts’—a fact proven by Celinda Lake and Name it Change it’s research.
Lake and Barbara Lee recently wrote an illuminating article on this, making an example out of former Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s close race against now Governor Rick Scott.
“Sink looked at her cell phone during a TV debate, launching a frenzy of negative attention… yet Scott had previous experience running a health care company that was charged with the largest Medicare fraud settlement in U.S. history… Is checking your BlackBerry a more egregious offense than ripping off the very taxpayers you are trying to court?”
The ridiculous repercussions that women face from the smallest missteps are a sad form of sexism that female candidates must unfortunately deal with. What makes this situation even more unfortunate is the fact that male candidates realize this and will often use it to their advantage.
The controversy currently surrounding U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren centers on whether or not she has the Native American ancestry she once claimed. Her opponent in the race, Scott Brown, has turned this into an opportunity to attack her integrity and question her ability to serve the people of Massachusetts.
Perhaps Senator Brown is doing so because he wishes his heritage was the most “questionable” part of his past, instead of it being, say, lifting his autobiography verbatim from an Elizabeth Dole speech delivered during her 2002 Senate run.
It is unfair that female candidates are put under a ridiculously large microscope while their opponents’ transgressions are completely glossed over. And NICI is here to put a stop to it.
Published by Kate McCarthy on 06/22/2012