BY AMY WEISS
Recently, I received some appalling campaign literature in the mail. The Allen campaign had never sent me anything before, but this full color pamphlet was all about how Allen was the candidate for women. Say what? Conservative, anti- choice Allen is accusing Webb of having sexist views about women in the military and military academy? The pamphlet illustrates the struggles of women trying to gain equality in a chronological order, ending with the claim: “If James Webb had his way we’d send women back to a time when they weren’t respected, weren’t equal, and weren’t treated fairly- and we certainly wouldn’t have women studying at the military academy, and that’s just wrong.”
Pamphlets like this have become an increasingly large part of Allen’s campaign strategy. Since the infamous “macaca” incident this past August, Allen’s campaign has taken a new approach to win more voters. This latest movement has clearly targeted women and feminists as its audience. In a September 14th press release posted on Senator Allen’s campaign website, Allen attacks Webb’s article in the Washingtonian Magazine titled “Women Can’t Fight.” The press release goes on to quote three prominent female Republican senators applauding Allen for his respect of men AND women in the military.
What the article fails to emphasize, however, is that Webb authored the article in 1979 and has since retracted and apologized for his statements, and his actions over the past 27 years reflect a respectful attitude towards women. Webb’s full statement as found on the Daily KOS is as follows:
“I am completely comfortable with the roles of women in today's military, and I fully support the advancements that have taken place. Over the past few years I have been privileged to visit numerous military units, and to accept the invitations of female officers for command visits in Japan, Hawaii, Washington, DC and Quantico. I look forward to continuing to do so.
27 years ago I wrote a magazine article about the issue of women in combat and women at the Naval Academy. I did not title the article. In the article I made clear that I would support a woman candidate for President and would have voted for Margaret Thatcher and Golda Meir. The article was written during a time of great emotional debate over a wide array of social issues in this country, and the tone of this article was no exception. Many leading military figures, including the Commandant of the Marine Corps, shared my concerns in these areas.
I did not anticipate the widespread reaction to this magazine article, and to the extent that my writing subjected women at the Academy or the active Armed Forces to undue hardship, I remain profoundly sorry. On the first occasion that I was invited back to the Academy in 1983, among my comments was a strong call for harmony among male and female midshipmen.
This issue was addressed during two Senate confirmation hearings, in 1984 and 1987, to the satisfaction of the Senate, which on both occasions unanimously supported my appointments in the Defense Department. Further, when I was Secretary of the Navy, I strengthened policies against sexual harassment. I also personally convened a Navy-wide task force of senior male and female officers and NCOs to examine roles of women in the Navy, and as a result tripled the number of operational assignments available to women.”
The press conference of five female U.S. Navy Academy graduates cited on Allen’s webpage was, of course, arranged and paid by the Allen campaign. Why else would they care to talk about a magazine article from the 70’s? The Allen campaign had to do a lot of digging to come up with this one.
Links:
Allen campaign press release: http://www.georgeallen.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=hgITL5PKJtH&b=1612661&ct=2941257
Daily KOS on Meet the Press: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/17/94358/0937
