Virginia NOW Responds To Gerry Connolly Mailer

Gerry Connolly recently sent out a campaign mailer which spoke about his support of women’s rights. The sentiment he expressed in the mailer is most definitely honorable and I do sincerely hope the mailer portrays his true feelings on the topic. Nonetheless, it was highly inappropriate for the Connolly campaign to put out a mailer that uses the NOW logo in a way that seems to suggest he has been endorsed by the organization. It is in response to that mailer that Marj Singer issued the following statement.

Candidate Gerry Connolly’s use of NOW’s logo in a new mailing - which states that Connolly has “always stood with women” - is disrespectful to Virginians who have fought for women’s rights and misleading to voters. Virginia NOW members who have fought for the ERA and abortion rights for more than 30 years have no recollection of Connolly being publicly engaged in the women’s rights movement in Northern Virginia. We are deeply concerned that voters will think Connolly has the national NOW PAC’s endorsement, which he does not.

The national NOW PAC has endorsed Leslie Byrne in the race for the Democratic nomination in the 11th Congressional District because she has championed women’s rights for decades. We know that we can count on Leslie Byrne to fight for fair and equitable economic and social policies for women, men and families as a Member of Congress.

In the mailing, Connolly states he has “always fought for women’s rights” and specifies those as the ERA, abortion, and pay equity. A photo showing NOW’s logo and placard “Keep Abortion Legal” occupies the top third of the page. Connolly’s campaign did not talk to NOW about using the photo.

We welcome Connolly’s interest and support and ask that he clarify his record and his current positions so we can work together. We are particularly encouraged by the statement in the mailing that he would support a federal law to ensure abortion rights at the state level if Roe v. Wade is overturned and would like to know more about his plans to do so.

The Democratic Party has a chance to perform extremely well during 2008 here in Virginia and I think that’s noticeable in the fact that we have so many qualified candidates running for Congress from throughout the Commonwealth. That being said, that could backfire if some of the candidates begin to rely solely on questionable tactics such as the one utilized in this flier.

Like Ms. Signer said in her statement, Gerry Connolly should publicly address some of the questions raised by this mailer. If it turns out that he didn’t want people to think he’d been endorsed by NOW, then the campaign should have no problem publicly saying that there was just some sort of misunderstanding and that Gerry looks forward to a positive discussion regarding women’s rights. The questionable tactics used here would no doubt still weigh on the minds of potential voters, but it could be forgiven if similar tactics aren’t used in the future. If the campaign did mean to be even remotely deceiving, however, we have a serious problem on our hands.