Ouch - EMILY's List taking all the credit again!

(Courtesy of equalrepresentation.org)     Subscribe in a reader

I spent several late hours last night following the Janice Hahn race for CA36 to replace Jane Harman - and plenty of reasons were mentioned for her victory: Robo calls by Bill Clinton (not sure who paid for those), help from Obama for America, phone calls by NOW and CAWPC members, not to mention the work of her own campaign volunteers..Democrats, friends and especially women closed ranks for Janice -- as well they should have!

Then came the noontime email from Stephanie Shriock, President of EMILY's List and Democratic Party star - and you would think that her members were soley responsible for Hahn's win: "EMILY's List members were there with Janice every step of the way, providing her with support to make her win possible." The kicker was: "Make no mistake: you did this. You got us one step closer to winning back the House in 2012."

Winning back the house is, of course, the goal of all Democrat orgs/operatives - and EMILY's List does understand that: "The more Democratic women we elect, the better policies we'll see for every family in this country." (Though I would make a case for women in general in order to achieve effective critical mass.)

But how much credit does EMILY's List actually deserve? How much credit does the Democratic Party deserve? Are they one in the same?

We need to know more in order to answer the big question: Is the Democratic Party helping get more women elected to Congress, or is EMILY's List helping elect more Democrats regardless of gender?

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