Liberal activist Sandra Fluke took to the airwaves this afternoon to announce her endorsement of President Obama, which isn’t surprising in the slightest. Fluke was made famous for her pseudo-congressional hearing concerning women’s health that prompted radio host Rush Limbaugh to chastise her as a slut. She was also featured because of her op-ed piece that was posted on CNN today with the editor’s note “Sandra Fluke graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and has served as president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice.” Yes, highlight her academic credentials, but don’t divulge the fact that she’s is a political hack.
The piece itself is the personification of the Obamamania craze that swept the millennial generation into action four years ago. She details how the president “is committed to rebuilding our economy upon the values of fairness and opportunity and the belief that all Americans, both men and women, must have the rights they deserve..asking Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to help stop pay discrimination before it starts and close the 23% gap between women’s earnings and men’s earnings…[and] Obama has moved our country forward by working not only to ensure Americans’ prosperity, but also by guaranteeing that our rights are protected and we all have opportunities to succeed. By comparison, Romney has offered only frightening promises to send us backward.”
The succeeding paragraphs bash Romney in a similar fashion seen in the Obama campaign’s Julia presentation depicting a miserable existence for American women. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. However, in the interview, CNN’s Carol Costello must have missed the information that stated Fluke she was already a political activist before Georgetown because she hardly grilled her.
CAROL COSTELLO CNN: You were a Georgetown student. Now you’re a full- blown political activist. And you wrote this op-ed for CNN.com. You endorsed the president. Do you think people will take your endorsement seriously?
SANDRA FLUKE: Well, I think that they can take it for what it’s worth. I have looked very closely at these policies. And I take very seriously anything that I take a position on. That’s actually why I waited until now to endorse anyone in this presidential election. I felt that a lot of people were looking to me for my opinion, following these controversies. And I wanted to remain nonpartisan and specifically look at which policies I could support. But I have just concluded that Governor Romney must not be looking for the vote of people like me because he’s not taking a stand on issues that are really important to me. Issues like the Paycheck Fairness Act or, you know, so many other things that I’m concerned about.
Later on in the segment, Costello asked “well, by the same token, Mitt Romney’s favorability rating among women is rising. And if he doesn’t care about these things that you’re talking about, why do you suppose that is? ”
Fluke responded by saying “I think that he’s recently been selected as the Republican nominee. And there’s inevitably a consolidation around a nominee when that occurs, and that’s what we’re seeing. That said, for months now we have seen the president having a considerable lead among women. And that’s because they know that he is a strong leader for the policies that we care about. Policies like affordable access to education, in terms of student loan rates. And policies like the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Violence Against Women Act. ”
Yes, the Paycheck Fairness Act would help equalize the salaries of those female staffers amongst the women’s wing of the Democratic Senate Caucus who pay them much less than their male counterparts, but that is a hypocrisy analysis for another day. Concerning unemployment, Costello pressed Fluke by asking “But when you look at the unemployment figures for young people, they are pretty abysmal. Why should young people, the millennial generation, enthusiastically support this president? ” I found the response lacking to say the least.
FLUKE: Actually, I saw something on ABC recently that things are increasingly — that this is the best time for employment opportunities for young college graduates since this recession started. And I think that the difference between Governor Romney and President Obama is that both of them are very focused on improving the economy for all of us, but President Obama is focused on improving it for all of us, not just for the select, wealthy few, and making sure that we have the rights and protections that we need in those jobs and in that workplace.
COSTELLO: I’m not sure that many college students who have just graduated would agree that the employment picture is looking any brighter.
FLUKE: The ones I have spoken to do actually.
COSTELLO: Really if what do they say? Are they finding jobs? The college students that we talk with are having a difficult time.
FLUKE: Well, I have talked with lots of folks who I graduated with in terms of law school graduates. This is the first year that things are looking up for them and increasing rates. And I am hearing that from graduates across the country.
What was the “something” on ABC? When I searched the ABC news website, I did find an artitcle titled “College Graduates Enjoy Best Job Market in Years.” However, the piece states that “the unemployment rate for college graduates 24 and under averaged 7.2% from January through April. That rate, which is not adjusted for seasonal factors, is down from the first four months of 2011 (9.1%), 2010 (8.1%) and 2009 (7.8%). For all Americans, the unemployment rate is 8.1 percent.” How is this good news for college graduates? Furthermore, if Ms. Fluke was a serious journalist, she could at least name one guy or gal she chatted with about the economy, but I guess hacks don’t have much time to write down names. They have to post columns and give interviews detailing the Obama agenda under the false pretenses of “remaining nonpartisan.”
P.S. Last time I checked, Romney lead women according to a CBS-NYT poll.
