Word: smeal
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...political ladies' auxiliary. "We've certainly proved we can take on the overworked, underpaid jobs in local government," says Ann Evans, the $3,000-a-year mayor of Davis, Calif., "but this raises the ante. It is a symbolic acceptance of women in leadership positions." Declares Eleanor Smeal, former NOW President: "Never again will women embark on a major campaign without being taken seriously. No longer will women be the sideshow. The women's movement has at last entered the main ring of professional politics-not least in our own eyes...
...critical and potentially explosive force of its own last week as women activists coalesced around the idea like no other issue since the struggle to pass the ERA. "All of a sudden women are thinking, 'My God, we're going to fight for it,' " says Eleanor Smeal, former president of the National Organization for Women. The case for a female running mate, supporters argue, is practical as well as ideological. Says Kathy Wilson, president of the National Women's Political Caucus: "Show me someone who could help beat Reagan more than a woman...
Declared Eleanor Smeal of Pittsburgh, housewife and president of the 65,000-member National Organization for Women: "Houston was a rite of passage." Ruth Clusen of Green Bay, Wis president of the League of Women Voters, struck the same theme: "Even for women who are outside organizational life, who don't see themselves as part of the women's movement, something has happened in their lives as a result of this meeting whether they realize...
Amendment supporters place heavy blame for the defeat on men. Women are, after all, still relatively unrepresented in national and local legislatures. Even powerful male politicians who endorsed the amendment seldom gave it a high priority. Says Liz Carpenter of ERAmerica: "They spent their credit on other issues." Smeal focuses on the "invisible lobby of business" that profits from sexual discrimination. She notes that no trade association, no businessman's alliance, no Chamber of Commerce and no National Association of Manufacturers was on the roll of ERA supporters. But her strongest condemnation is of the insurance industry. NOW claims...
...relocate conventions to ratified states-they also clearly must share in the blame for the amendment's defeat. Feminists relied too much on moral fervor and impassioned rhetoric, and displayed little of the political savvy needed to wage an effective state-by-state ratification drive. Symbolically perhaps, Smeal showed great tenacity and faith but revealed little taste or talent for politicians or politics. In the early days activists did not seem to know how to find a precinct list or run a phone bank. Says Elaine Gordon of the Florida legislature: "We all tried to tell them...