DENVER — Barack Obama may or may not be merely a political
celebrity, as the John McCain campaign charges, but he’s got no
shortage of celebrity supporters, including actresses Rosario
Dawson, Eva Longoria and Fran Drescher, all of whom addressed
yesterday’s meeting of the DNC Women’s Caucus.
Not even the presence of three TV stars, however, was enough to
fill the caucus meeting in the Four Seasons Ballroom at the
Colorado Convention Center. The ballroom was never more than
three-quarters full, even though rumors had circulated among
delegates that both Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton would
address the caucus.
Neither woman showed. If they had made a belated appearance,
they would have addressed a half-full room. The caucus ran 20
minutes over its allotted two hours, and by the time the final
speakers took the state, most of the delegates — and nearly all of
the reporters — had left.
Perhaps the early departures reflected boredom, or perhaps they
reflected the crowded schedule of caucuses scheduled this week in
Denver. The Women’s Caucus was scheduled to end at noon, at which
time other caucuses convened their meetings elsewhere.
The overlapping caucus schedules may have caused conflicts for
some delegates. Should a young, Catholic, disabled Democrat attend
the Disability Caucus in room 601, the Faith Caucus in the Korbel
Ballroom, or the Youth Caucus in the Wells Fargo Theater? All three
met at noon yesterday.
THE DEMOCRATS SEEM to have custom-made caucuses for everyone,
including Asian American/Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, union
members, seniors, rural residents, veterans and blacks. (American
Indians, more recently known as Native Americans, have been
designated “First Americans” in the latest Democratic caucus
nomenclature.)
There’s also an LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual) caucus,
and even a Recovery Caucus for those coping with substance-abuse
and mental health problems, whose meeting Monday was addressed by
Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
Overlap between the various constituencies is obvious at the
Women’s Caucus, which is addressed by Bel Leong-Hong, chairwoman of
the DNC’s Asian-American/Pacific Islander Caucus, and Black Caucus
chairwoman Virgie Rollins.
The overlapping caucus membership also involves a significant
overlap of agendas. Dawson, who has appeared in such films as
Sin City and Rent, is co-founder of Vota Latino,
a group that pushes the political “mobilization” of Hispanics.
“One-in-three women in this country will be affected by rape,
abuse or be killed,” Dawson tells the Women’s Caucus, and
introduces the executive director of Voto Latino, Maria Theresa
Peterson, who declares, “By 2040, Hispanics will be a majority in
the United States.”
These are both dubious statistics. The “one-in-three” figure for
women suffering from violence appears to be a derivative of the
widely quoted claim that one-in-four women are victims of rape, a
statistic denounced as a “myth” by the Independent Women’s Forum. And the Census Bureau
projects Hispanics to be 22 percent of U.S.
population by 2040, which is hardly a majority.
If they’re short on statistical validity, the Women’s Caucus is
long on political enthusiasm. For all the talk about disgruntled
Hillary Clinton supporters in Denver, the speakers at yesterday’s
caucus were unstinting in their praise for Obama. Even the most
banal pronouncements were greeted by the delegates with cheers and
chants of “Obama! Obama!”
“We celebrate the fact that not only can women vote, but women
can vote for other women in elected office,” says Donna Brazile,
eliciting cheers and the shaking of tambourines distributed free to
the caucus attendees.
Drescher, best known as TV’s “The Nanny,” said that Clinton had
“put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling,” but urged support for
Obama as “a defender of women’s rights.” A survivor of uterine
cancer, she praised Obama for his sponsorship of the Gynecologic
Cancer Education and Awareness Act, and used her illness as an
argument for abortion rights.
“My right to choose was taken away when I was given a radical
hysterectomy to cure my cancer,” Drescher said. “I hate that I lost
my right to choose, and you will, too.”
The logic of that statement doesn’t quite hold together — what
Republican would deny a woman the ability to bear children, as
Drescher’s hysterectomy did? — but it was nonetheless applauded
heartily by the Women’s Caucus.
HEARTY APPLAUSE seems to be the entire point of these caucus
meetings, which are one part group self-affirmation — celebrating
the experience of being a woman, gay, Hispanic, etc. — and one
part partisan rally. The caucus members are told how wonderful it
is to belong to their identity group, and then told how important
Obama’s election is to their group.
Being organized as a coalition of identity groups results in a
certain amount of political irrationality by the Democrats. Yet
these caucus pep rallies serve a necessary function for a party
that lives or dies by its ability to promise benefits to its
constituents.
Democratic promises are only as valuable, however, as the
party’s ability to win elections. This is why, despite whatever
disgruntlement Hillary’s supporters may harbor, they still cheered
when the speakers at the Women’s Caucus praised Obama and slammed
the Republicans.
Even the most illogical or banal statements were cheered, so
long as they were embedded in the hope of victory. This is the hope
— or, as Obama’s sloganeers have it, the Hope — that ultimately
unites the disparate elements of the Democratic coalition.
