Back to the Kitchen...and the 19th Century

Earlier I posted videos of Ohio U.S. Senate candidates who spoke at the Akron Press Club. One of those candidates was Republican Tom Ganley, a wealthy car dealer from Cleveland who has since dropped out of the senate race to challenge Betty Sutton, the Democrat from Copley who represents the 13th Congressional District. The race is starting to heat up--or at least the rhetoric is. In a newsletter sent out to Medina County Republicans, Medina County Republican Executive Committee Chair Bill Heck intones: "Let's take Betty Sutton out of the House and put her back in the kitchen!"

Clearly this was a poor attempt at a clever pun. Newsflash: Its 2010, not 1810 or 1910, or even 1960. Women vote. They also work outside the home now (not that working inside the home is something to be ashamed of as is inferred in the above comment). They are CEOs, astronauts, teachers, doctors, lawyers, judges, cabinet members, legislators, even heads of state.

A comment like this can only backfire. You can bet Emily's List, who bankrolled much of Sutton's 2006 inaugural House campaign, has been energized by this. Ganley has deep pockets but so does a ticked off Emily.