Always Count On EMILY's List To Back Wretched Conservative Women Against Progressive Men-- Iowa Edition

EMILY's List perverting the meaning of "progressive" in IA-01

Every cycle EMILY's List picks at least one horrid conservative to get behind. People thought this might end after their campaign for Memphis recruit Nikki Tinker exploded in their face. But despite a change of leadership at the top of EMILY's List after that fiasco, they've continued viciously attacking progressive male candidates on behalf of wretched conservative women like Tinker. EMILY's List's filthy campaign against Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on behalf of conservaDem Wendy Greuel not only backfired and helped Garcetti win the race but pretty much ended Greuel's political career. And last cycle their jihad against progressive U.S. Senator Brian Schatz on behalf of New Dem Colleen Hanabusa actually revisited some of their worst themes again!

This cycle, EMILY's List found themselves another especially horrible candidate to back, "ex"-Republican Monica Vernon in Iowa. The former Iowa House Speaker, Pat Murphy, is their target this time. And why not? After all, he has one of the most progressive records of accomplishment of any political leader in Iowa, and Vernon... well, she's barely even a Democrat at all. But she's rich, which is all the for-profit EMILY's List really cares about.

EMILY's List and the Vernon campaign are already conducting an anti-Murphy smear campaign, claiming, absurdly, that he's "anti-family" and "anti-woman." Murphy, who was endorsed by Blue America, responded by pointing out:

In the Iowa House, I wrote the law that guarantees access to health insurance for every child in our state. I led the successful fight to raise the minimum wage, passed the nation's first pay equity law for women and voted to protect abortion rights for women across the state, no matter where they live. And as Speaker of the House, I stopped every attempt by right wing conservatives to affect women’s healthcare choices.

Ironically, while he was doing all that, Vernon was writing checks to Republican officials and candidates who were leading the GOP's War Against Women!

Pat ran in IA-01 last cycle but was dragged down by the Republican tide that swept his state. Bruce Braley's stunning incompetence as a Senate candidate and the horrible Democratic candidate for governor, Jack Hatch (with Vernon running as his lieutenant governor), was disastrous for local Democrats across the state. In IA-01, though, Pat outpolled both Braley and Hatch and lost to right-wing multimillionaire Rod Blum by a mere 7,000 votes out of over 280,000 cast. It was the closest of the 5 federal elections in Iowa. And Murphy won 5 counties outright: Dubuque, Linn (Cedar Rapids), Black Hawk (Waterloo), Winneshiek, and Howard.

Here's Pat Murphy's actual record on family and women's issues, the strength that EMILY's List is attacking him, Rove-like-- for:

1990 - Votes to require insurance coverage for newborns and well-baby care for first 6 months

1991 - Sponsors universal healthcare plan

1992 - Sponsors mandatory maternity leave bill

1995 - Co-sponsors Equal Rights Amendment Bill

1996 - Votes to make sure child care workers checked against sex offender registry

1997 - Again co-sponsors Equal Rights Amendment Bill

1998 - Votes for low income tax credit

1998 - Votes for increase to child tax credit

1999 - Advocates using tobacco trust fund money to increase medicaid reimbursements

2000 - Votes to prevent insurers from denying contraceptive coverage

2000 - Sponsors equal pay law

2000 - Sponsors bill to provide unemployment for women who miss work because of domestic violence

2002 - Writes Hawk-I bill to cover uninsured kids

2006 - Votes to increase the minimum wage

2007 - As Speaker, House increases the minimum wage

2007 - Votes to establish pre-kindergarten in Iowa

2007 - Votes to increase the earned income tax credit for all families

2008 - Worked to keep sex offenders away from daycare centers

2008 - Votes to extend health insurance coverage to all Iowa kids by 2011

2009 - As Speaker, House passes nation’s first equal pay law

2006-2010 - As Speaker, stops every attempt by right wing conservatives to affect women’s healthcare choices

2014 - Defends every Iowa woman’s right to choose, no matter where they live

These were the same years that Monica Vernon was contributing money not just to generic Republicans but to extremists like Phil Gramm and to Iowa Republicans Tom Latham, Chuck Grassley and Jim Nussle, plus thousands to the Republican Party of Iowa.