By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Tue Nov 8, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET More women than ever are entering the blogosphere. Although more men blog than women, according to the “State of the Blogosphere 2011” survey, the gap between the genders is closing fast. [CNN]
In reaction to new of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ divorce after 72 days of marriage, a group set up an ironic vigil outside Kardashian’s store, Dash, in Soho. Is this the beginning of a bigger trend? [NY Magazine]
A Swedish lingerie chain is in trouble for requiring its employees to display their cup sizes on their badges while working. [Jezebel]
Could you avoid mirrors for an entire year? Would you ever want to? One woman’s quest focuses in on body image issues created by the media. [Time]
Ladiaes, read these stats for a reality check and a confidence boost. [Mom Grind]
By Zac Byer, on Tue Nov 8, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET Prediction: Herman Cain will make it through this week, and those coming, without losing ground in the polls because of his past inappropriate advances. And he won’t even have to give out free slices of pizza to remain near the top of the Republic field. Now, please realize that I make this prediction without condoning Cain’s behavior. If he did it, it was wrong. Seriously, who are these guys’ mothers? Power corrupts, I guess.
But back to my thoughts on Cain’s polling position. Here are the reasons why I think the Hurri-Cain will weather this storm.
1) The Right’s Undying Mistrust of the Left: I don’t think a Republican would trust a Democrat to make a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich these days. What, you put the jelly on first? Preposterous! All kidding aside, as bad as the Cain campaign has been at responding to these sexual harassment stories, the crew has been GOP-good at blaming it on the mainstream media (read: Politico, Washington Post, and the rest of the liberal elite). If Cain can continue to frame this issue as a left-wing media attack on a rising, serious Republican challenger to President Obama, expect the money to keep pouring in to the Cain coffers. Plus, Gloria Allred got involved. As good as Allred is at getting women a soapbox, she is just as bad at preserving her “clients’” credibility. Again, Allred’s participation makes for the perfect fundraising e-mail and speech line.
2) We are Still in Primary Season: If this was 4 months before the general election, I wouldn’t be making this prediction (note: I don’t think Cain will win the Republican nomination anyway. But, I don’t think these harassment issues will be dispositive. . .Cain’s candidacy is plagued by other problems that I’ll try to address in a later column.). But, as we haven’t had our first primary yet, Cain can rest easier. Yesterday’s announcement about sexual harassment from 1997 – 14 years ago – is highly unlikely to push any Cain supporters away. I think it is just as unlikely that these reports are the straw that breaks the Independent voter’s back (that is, the Independent voter voting in a Republican primary). They’ll vote for someone other than Cain for a different reason, not because of this. With Democrats still sitting on the sidelines waiting for November 2012, Cain’s poll numbers won’t suffer at their hands. If these stories had to come out at all, this is a good time.
3) Cain’s Malfeasance Pales in Comparison to Some of his Republican Counterparts’ Bugaboos: Conservatives still don’t trust Mitt Romney. The GOP wants health care to be a keystone of its general election attack on President Obama. Obamacare will still be relevant if Romney wins the nomination, but the attacks won’t be as biting because of Mitt’s Massachusetts’ Plan. Plus, nobody knows what he’s going to do about abortion. That scares a lot of Republicans. Rick Perry is as unpredictable a candidate since Howard Dean…and things didn’t turn out too well for him. Newt Gingrich cannot deny his moral missteps. In a lesser-evils look at the GOP front-runners’ personal problems, Cain slips by.
4) Cain is a Black Republican: His fellow candidates won’t hit him on these harassment stories. Fox News and other Conservative media outposts want to be the cool kids embracing the new cool thing, so they will lay off, too. And Republican voters are looking for a demographic answer to not only President Obama, but also to the race and national origin gaps between the two parties. Marco Rubio is that answer, but Cain is the fill-in for this election cycle.
5) Cain has Nothing to Lose: Think about it. Cain is running for President of the United States. His poll numbers show him right up there in the top-tier of GOP candidates seeking their party’s nomination (note: We all know that national poll numbers aren’t the gospel during primary season. Still, Cain’s numbers are good signs for him.). He is in his mid-60s and likely won’t be running for national office again. He is still trying to sell his book. And each extra week he spends on the campaign trail, he may be able to raise his speaking fee by a few thousand dollars. Wouldn’t you fight through this week, too?
By Kristen Hamilton, RP Staff, on Tue Nov 8, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
BREAKING NEWS: Fashion woes continue to plague the Kardashians! [Fashionista]
It’s already time to prepare your wardrobes for Spring 2012! Check out these essential accessories for the upcoming season: [NY Mag]
Would you pay $64,000 for a Audrey Hepburn dress? She is pretty awesome, you know… [NY Mag]
A pair of Forever 21’s underwear has landed the company in some hot water. Uh oh. [NY Mag]
Love Chanel like I do? Check out this fun trivia: [Fashionista]
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Tue Nov 8, 2011 at 9:15 AM ET "Citizen Cain, or Citizen Bane?"
A fourth woman steps forward to accuse republican presidential Herman Cain of sexual harassment. [National Journal]
By Krystal Ball, on Tue Nov 8, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET I have never held political office.
Like most young women of my generation, running for office was something I never pictured myself doing. I tended to think of politicians as coming from two different-and unappealing groups-extreme partisans and opportunists.
But when I decided to run for US Congress in early 2009, shortly after my daughter was born and in the throws of the idealism and hope that President Obama’s inauguration represented, I realized that things are the way they are in this country in large part because people like me, young mothers, young women struggling to make careers and find their way in the world, don’t participate very much in the political process.
We tend not to run for office. We feel in fact virtually excluded from the national political conversation. And I felt, and still feel, that the absence of the voices of women generally, and young women in particular, was hurting us as a country.
So, even though I felt absolutely 100% terrified about the whole process, I threw my hat in the ring and ran for US Congress. I thought that if I could overcome my shyness and insecurities and run for office, perhaps that would serve as an example for a few more young women to run and that those few more could serve as an example for more still until eventually thousands of young women, from all over the country, decided to participate in the political process and run for office at every level, and the higher the better. There’s no question in my mind that if this were to happen things in this country would really change.
Read the rest of…
Krystal Ball: Why We Need More Young Women in Politics
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 7, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET  The Politics of Pigskin The top story this week in the world of football is the drama surrounding the Penn State football program. If you haven’t heard about this story yet, it disturbing and probably the worst scandal in college sports history. Dan Wetzel did a fantastic job framing the history and the allegations. [Yahoo! Sports]
The fallout in Happy Valley has already begun as two major players in the scandal: AD Tim Curley and Senior VP for Business and Finance Gary Schultz have stepped down. This is only the beginning of what will surely have lasting effects on the Penn State program for years to come. [USA Today]
Changing directions to the weekend’s NFL action – this week’s MMQB discusses Eli Manning’s clutch play and the Giants big win over the Patriots and other results around the league. Make sure you check out the retrospective on Ryan Leaf. [Sports Illustrated]
In Sunday’s best game the Ravens executed a game-winning 4th quarter drive to beat the Steelers at Heinz Field. It’s always a contentious game when the two biggest rivals in the NFL play each other, but the Ravens managed to sweep the regular season series for the first time since 2006. [ESPN]
Check out the Football Outsiders’ excellent analysis of long and short sack percentages. [Football Outsiders]
#1 ranked LSU beat #2 Alabama this weekend to remain undefeated and almost certainly get a shot at another national title. [NY Times]
By Sandra Moon, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 7, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET As an alumna of Vanderbilt University, I get defensive when my school is wrongly criticized. In recent months, Vandy has gotten some bad press from certain news sources. Usually when Vandy gets bad press, it has something to do with the football team. This fall, however, the controversy has been centered on the university’s decision to enforce its nondescrimination policy. To Chancellor Zeppos, the Rev. Gretchen Person, and to everyone else involved with the enforcement of the university’s policy–I applaud and commend you.
Back story: The constitution of the Christian Legal Society, a student organization of Vanderbilt’s Law School, included a requirement that officers adhere to certain religious beliefs. CLS, along with a handful of other, primarily religious, student groups, were placed on “provisional status” after a university review found the groups’ constitutions to be in noncompliance with the univeristy-wide nondescrimination policy. The response from conservative news sources has been hostile. In an article published in the Daily Caller, Robert Shibley, Senior Vice President of Fire wrote “Pity the modern college administrator — it must be painful to be so politically correct that you’re forced to make embarrassing and nonsensical decisions.” Comments such as these have greatly angered me, mainly because they are unfounded. And before anyone accuses me of being a militant secularist set out to destroy religion, I want to make clear that I am a person of deep faith convictions. I was involved with a variety of student religious organizations during my undergraduate experience at Vanderbilt, and those experiences helped shape my journey that led me to seminary and to seek a vocation in ministry. That being said, let’s move on…
Read the rest of…
Sandra Moon: In Defense of My Alma Mater, Vanderbilt
By Patrick Derocher, on Mon Nov 7, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET  According to a new book, Arizona Representative Gabby Giffords continues to recover from he near-fatal shooting and remains aware of the more amusing aspects of California politics. A little bit of levity can never hurt. Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, critically wounded in a shooting that left six others dead and 12 wounded, is quoted extensively in her and her husband Mark Kelly’s new book about the ordeal as making numerous political witticism’s. Most notable? Upon seeing a picture of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Giffords is reported to have said “Messin’ around. Babies.” The book, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, hits bookshelves next Tuesday, November 15. [Huffington Post]
The New Jersey General Assembly continued, without resolution, its battle over whether Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) would be able to keep her position. Oliver, the state’s first female, black Speaker, is being assailed by her own party, led by majority leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union), who is angling for the Speaker slot. Oliver’s offense? Breaking with her caucus and agreeing to bring healthcare and pension reforms up for debate in the Assembly. Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), claimed Friday that a coalition to keep Oliver’s position safe had been established, but Cryan denounced that claim as premature. [NJ.com]
In the Wisconsin State Assembly, a bill is being voted upon that would lower the qualifications for primary and secondary school nurses. Opposed strenuously by the Wisconsin Association of School Nurses, the measure would repeal an administrative rule passed last year (and supported by the Association) that requires school nurses to possess a four-year bachelor’s degree. Although public health training requirements would remain the same, the Association argues that by permitting two-year Associate’s degrees, the level of care being provided will decline. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
A bill was introduced in the Massachusetts State Senate that would require that state’s public schools teach social media skills. The bill, introduced by Sen. Katherine Clark (D-Melrose), was scheduled for a hearing last week, but there has been no word since on the status of the bill or the reaction from teachers’ unions and other such industry groups. [Boston Herald]
The race for New York’s 10th Congressional District is getting interesting as Democratic candidate Hakeem Jeffries, who is looking to unseat 15-term incumbent Edolphus Towns in next year’s primary, is looking to exploit a potential weakness in Towns’s fundraising. After using his considerable clout to direct fundraising efforts to his daughter Deidra, the elder Towns’s coffers are less than full, leaving Jeffries and others to wonder if that venture left him less able to compete in future House races. Deidra Towns was running in a special election to replace her brother in a State Assembly seat. [NY Daily News]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 7, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET  So, this turns some commonly used forms of birth control into murder. What a great idea!
Given everything else on the nation’s plate right now, a focus on this seems so 90s. It will inevitably result in many years of costly litigation.
(Cross-posted, with author’s permission, from Politico’s Arena)
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 7, 2011 at 9:15 AM ET Hey ladies, here’s something that will either make you feel good about yourselves or sad for your dating prospects. New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that one-fifth of American males aged 24 to 35 still live from their parents. [Time]
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