'Boston Herald' vs. Elizabeth Warren: Will Sexism Win?

[redqueen]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/169203/boston-herald-vs-elizabeth-warren-will-sexism-win-or-lose#

Can Elizabeth Warren win her Senate contest in Massachusetts despite the daily, often sexist, all-out hammering from the state’s second largest paper—and one favored by many of the swing voters she needs to attract? It’s no surprise that the staunchly conservative and Republican Boston Herald is backing GOP incumbent Scott Brown, but it’s the way it’s doing it that is raising hackles. Will it carry the day, or produce a backlash? It certainly matters, as the latest polls continue to show a dead heat, with Warren at best up a point or two.

The prime offender has been longtime columnist Howie Carr, who by one count has referred to Warren as “Granny” at least sixteen times since this past February. His new column today, in fact, puts it right in the headline: “Keeping up with Granny Ain’t Easy.” After several paragraphs of scorn (including the standard she-wants-to-destroy-capitalism) he calls her Lieawatha and “the fake Indian.”

Okay, it’s just one columnist; surely this doesn’t cross over to the news pages? Alas, this past Tuesday, the Herald printed a front page carrying a huge photo of Warren (see left), IDing her only as “Liz” and, yes, “Granny.” David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix quickly tweeted, “Not a Quote. Not a Howie column. Just the Herald calling her granny.” Actually “Liz” is pretty tame, since she often gets “Lizzie.”

...

“Name It. Change It”—a nonpartisan project of WCF Foundation, Women’s Media Center and Political Parity—weighed in this week, “Since her debut in the political arena, Elizabeth Warren has been a lightning rod for media attention from both supporters and oppenents. However, there comes a time when it is vital to draw distinctions between the legitimate commentary she receives based on her politics and the repeated attacks launched against her because of her age and gender.…

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[DCKit]

1. If he thinks this is a winning strategy, he's wrong.

He may be appealing to the least common denominator, but he's pissing off the rest of us.

He's working for EW, whether he knows it or not.

[Doctor_J]

2. then why is it a dead heat in a Blue state?

if this were good for Warren, her numbers would be improving. These "Republican slime backfires" attitudes are why we never actually fight back.

[sabrina 1]

4. It works until we turn it against him, or better yet, against Scott Brown.

Rather than go on the defensive, use it, against Brown. Challenge him to say that there is something hateful about Grandmothers, make a huge issue of it. The reason we lose when they sink to this level is because we go on the defensive. But this is a winning issue. Everyone loves Grandmas and for him to imply that a word that describes people who are pretty generally loved is an insult, should be spelled out for the not so bright until he backs down and apologizes, NOT to Warren but to all the voting Grandmas in Mass.

[sabrina 1]

3. So he hates Grandmothers? I don't think that's going to help his candidate. Does he

endorse this hatred of Grandmothers. Grandmas are among the most beloved of people. I admit that I never thought of Elizabeth Warren as a Grandma but it would make me like her even more if she is.

What a hateful jerk. I hope every Granny in Mass lets him know what THEY think of HIM.

How about a Grandmas against Howie Carr and Scott Brown?

Does he really think that the word Grandma or Granny is an insult?

I think this could easily be turned against his candidate Scott Brown. How about someone publicly asking Brown if he too hates Grandmas.

Grannies Vote! What a stupid tactic this is.