What’s wrong with this sentence?
Courting the women’s vote, Democratic presidential candidates accused President Bush yesterday of stacking the federal judiciary with conservatives hostile to feminist issues and warned that abortion rights in the United States will be at risk if Bush is reelected in 2004.
This is the way veteran Washington Post political writer Dan Balz begins an article today whose headline is Bush’s Rights Record Assailed and whose subhead is Democratic Hopefuls Tailor Message to Feminist Audience.
You’d think Balz would know better than to parrot (especially in a news article) the Democratic line that all women are pro-abortion feminists.
The mistaken that notion that “women” and “feminists” are interchangeable was repeated throughout the article.
Seven of the nine Democratic candidates spoke at the forum, sponsored by EMILY’s List, an organization that encourages women who support abortion rights to run for office and helps them raise money through a nationwide network of members.
Democrats view the women’s vote as crucial to their hopes of taking back the White House. They once enjoyed a strong advantage among female voters, but in 2002, that advantage shrank significantly for Democratic congressional candidates, and party strategists know that a repeat in 2004 could rob them of any chance of victory against Bush.
Regarding the Dem candidates groveling speaking before the feminist audience, however, there was a very good euphemistic description of pandering:
The candidates received an enthusiastic reception and there was nothing in their short speeches that cut against the grain of the audience.
UPDATE – The Atlanta Constitution makes the same mistake. (Link via Howard Bashman)
Democratic presidential candidates courted women voters Tuesday with a spirited condemnation of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
Actually, by speaking to an EMILY’s LIST forum the Dem candidates didn’t court “women.” They courted activist, pro-abortion Democratic women who vote in Democratic primaries.
You mention “The mistaken notion that “women” and “feminists” are interchangeable” and it’s true that that’s a mistake. Actually, it’s possible to be a feminist and to be pro-life. (If one is intellectually honest enough.) It’s also possible to be a pro-life Democrat; I’ve known several.