Buried within the news that Jim Bopp is endorsing Reince Priebus for RNC chair, one discovers how an antiquated rule meant to demonstrate the importance of women within the GOP has helped to change the GOP’s image from the leader in women’s rights it traditionally was, into a party perceived to be of old white men.
As there isn’t even a declared male candidate for co-chair, two women currently running for Chair, Ann Wagner and Maria Cino, are at a distinct disadvantage. Talk about your unintended consequences. There is definitely something wrong with this picture, especially as contrasted with the rules original intent. See below for that.
MORE FROM THE RNC – PAYBACK: Indiana RNC Committeeman Jim Bopp has endorsed Wisconsin’s Reince Priebus in the chairman’s race, throwing his support to Michael Steele’s leading challenger days after the incumbent chairman called Bopp an “idiot” during a radio interview. Priebus, Bopp said, “understands that we need more active RNC member participation and that members need to be empowered to hold the leadership accountable. … It was a close decision, particularly between Saul and Reince, since I think Ann has an insurmountable difficulty reaching a majority of the votes, because of our unfair gender requirement for Co-Chairman.”
The tradition, now formalized by Rule 5, was actually intended to highlight the importance of women in politics as far back as 1937.
In the Rules of the Republican Party, Rule No. 5, which concerns the “Officers of the Republican National Committee,” states:
(a) The officers of the Republican National Committee shall consist of:
(1) A chairman and a co-chairman of the opposite sex who shall be elected by the members of the Republican National Committee. [Emphasis added.]
If the RNC elects a male chair, then, it must elect a female co-chair — and vice versa. Currently, the RNC has a male chair, Michael Steele, and a female co-chair, Jan Larimer, the committeewoman from Wyoming. Both are running for reelection. So far, Larimer and Sharon Day, the committeewoman from Florida, are the only declared candidates for co-chair.
From a brief history of the Republican Party. Women should not be forced to take a back seat to men in the race for Chair of the RNC because of a once well-meaning rule that is now so obviously antiquated.
In fact, writing in US News and World Report, former White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush, Mary Kate Cary, believes a female chair may be precisely what the GOP needs right now. Perhaps, perhaps not, but what the RNC race most certainly needs is a level playing field.
Perhaps the most significant accomplishments of the Republican-controlled Congress was the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote. Responsive to the role of women in both party politics and government, Republicans were the first to recognize women in their platform: “The Republican Party is mindful of its obligations to the loyal women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of freedom. Their admission to wider fields of usefulness is viewed with satisfaction, and the honest demand of any class of citizens for additional rights should be treated with respectful consideration.” (1872)
… The next 20 years were a time of rebuilding for the Republican Party. The effort included establishing a greater role for women. In 1937, Miss Marion E. Martin was named first assistant chairman of the Republican National Committee, launching a tradition that the RNC chairman and co-chairman be of opposite sex.
No comments:
Post a Comment