As women rallied at the US Capitol to protest Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court on Saturday, activist Linda Sarsour flew from Washington to Texas with her eyes on the next challenge: the Nov. 6 congressional elections.
Sarsour, a leader of the Women’s March organization, said it was time to harness women’s furor around Kavanaugh to galvanize voters in races that will soon determine which party controls the US Congress.
“This is not the end,” Sarsour, 38, said in a telephone interview. “I think the rage will be translated into mass voter turnout.”
Photo: AFP
Women’s March, which grew out of the massive January last year demonstrations protesting Donald Trump’s presidency, mobilized thousands of women during Kavanaugh’s confirmation process over concerns about how the conservative judge would vote on issues such as abortion, and allegations that he sexually assaulted university professor Christine Blasey Ford when they were teenagers in 1982.
Sarsour said the group would use its vast digital infrastructure to get hundred of thousands of women to support Democrats in dozens of US House of Representatives races and to target Republican senators Ted Cruz and Dean Heller.
Polls show Cruz and Heller, who both voted for Kavanaugh’s confirmation, in tight contests.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which advocates for women’s healthcare and abortion access, launched a digital ad in Nevada last week criticizing Heller for calling sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh a “hiccup” in the confirmation process.
Women are playing a key role in the first midterm election since Trump’s 2016 victory. Fueled by his statements about women and the #MeToo movement, a record number of women are running for Congress this year.
Women who live in suburbs, where some of the most competitive House races will be contested, have trended away from Republicans in recent polls and may be further energized by the Kavanaugh debate.
Activists are also encouraged by the response to a crowdfunding effort focused on Republican Senator Susan Collins, a possible swing vote who ultimately voted for Kavanaugh.
More than US$3.2 million was pledged to help her future opponent in 2020, when the Maine senator is up for re-election.
“Starting tomorrow, it’s not unlikely we ask those 130,000 donors to start to support some of the Senate Democrats in really tough races this year,” said Liz Jaff, co-director of Be A Hero, which advocates for healthcare causes.
Jaff cited senators Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill, who both opposed Kavanaugh and face serious challenges in states won by Trump.
Conservative groups also vowed to keep the confirmation battle at the forefront of voters’ minds.
“Americans saw through the vilification of an exceptionally qualified nominee, and their senators will be held accountable,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of