In a fundraising pitch Tuesday for a political group devoted to electing pro-choice Democratic women, entertainer and longtime liberal activist Barbra Streisand made a fairly direct pitch for electing more women to public office.
“If more women were in office would we still be fighting for equal wages? Or fighting just to maintain the rights to our own bodies? If there were more women in office, would the environment be suffering so much?” Miss Streisand wrote in a fundraising pitch for the group Emily’s List.
Miss Streisand also implicitly credited Emily’s and similar feminist groups, at least in part, for her half-century of success as one of the world’s most famous singers and actresses.
“Emily’s List can make a difference. If I’d listened to all the people who told me along the way that I couldn’t follow my dreams, who knows where I would have ended up. Thank God for Emily’s List telling girls and women that anything is possible if you have a dream or a vision of how the world should be … And that we deserve to be heard.”
Miss Streisand, a longtime Democratic activist, has recently donated to the gubernatorial campaign of Wendy Davis, a Democrat running in Texas who rose to prominence after holding the floor of the Texas Senate to protest an abortion-related bill last year.
“Whether it’s on Broadway or Pennsylvania Ave., we’re all still fighting for our voices to be heard,” Miss Streisand wrote. “That’s why I joined Emily’s List. I’m here because I passionately believe in their work to give women the confidence, encouragement and resources they need to run for office up and down the ballot.”
“Many consider politics as one of the last bastions of the boys’ club and thankfully — although slowly — women are finally making real inroads,” the entertainer wrote. “But we still have a lot more work to do, and Emily’s List is leading the way.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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