19th Amendment centennial year

[jayem]

June 4 will be the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment--which gave women the right to vote nationwide--passing Congress. It would take 14 months before Tenn. became the 36th state to ratify it on Aug. 18, 1920. The amendment was introduced back in 1878 by Republican Congressman Aaron Sargent of CA, and had been supported largely by Republicans. On 4 earlier votes, the amendment was rejected by the Democratic majority Senate. And even before ratification, 12 states--all Republican--had already given women full suffrage.

So what has happened at the national level between women and Republican Presidential candidates? I recall Ann Coulter saying that if women's couldn't vote, a Democrat would never again be elected President. I suspect she's right. According to polling data, in every Presidential election since 1992, a majority of women have voted for the Democrat. In last year's mid-term election, women voters--especially suburban women--were the key to the Democrats winning the House. Obviously, the societal roles and expectations of women have changed dramatically over the past 40-50 years. But the Republican party--which was the progressive party years ago--hasn't kept pace. The reason must be that religious conservatives, with very traditional views on the role of women, have dominated the party since the late 70s. And to me (who's more of a nearly-extinct liberal Republican than a Democrat,) it's very sad.

 

[Chesterton]

This is a confusing post. What exactly are you sad about?

 

[jayem]

This is a confusing post. What exactly are you sad about?

I'm sad that there's no longer a progressive wing of the Republican party. People like Teddy Roosevelt. And Nelson Rockefeller. Or Senators Edward Brooke, Jacob Javitz, Jim Jeffords, and Olympia Snowe. And the Republicans whose votes passed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. And who supported Title X. Loss of diversity, which affects both parties, is not a good thing.

 

[Speedwell]

I'm sad that there's no longer a progressive wing of the Republican party. People like Teddy Roosevelt. And Nelson Rockefeller. Or Senators Edward Brooke, Jacob Javitz, Jim Jeffords, and Olympia Snowe. And the Republicans whose votes passed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. And who supported Title X. Loss of diversity, which affects both parties, is not a good thing.

All that's left to do is to change the name of the GOP to the Christian Nationalist Party.

 

[Chesterton]

I'm sad that there's no longer a progressive wing of the Republican party.

I'm sad there's never been a progressive wing of the Democrat party.