Tale of two women: One Republican, One Democrat
This is a tale of two women politicians.
One is a Republican running in blue New York. Her name is Elise Stefanik, a Harvard alum who served in the Bush White House and now works for her familys upstate plywood business.
If elected and the latest poll has her 8 points up the 30-year-old will make history as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
The other is Democrat Wendy Davis.
Davis too boasts a Harvard degree, from the law school. Back in June 2013, she was heralded as the voice of American women when she tried and failed to stop her fellow Texas legislators from passing a law restricting abortion after 20 weeks. Now shes running for governor, where the latest poll has her down 13 points.
Guess whos the national sensation?
Davis became arguably Americas best-known female politician outside Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin mostly because the press corps found her personal story made to order: a divorced, trailer-park, teenage single mom who got herself through Harvard Law and was making a stand for women in the heart of redneck Texas.
In short order her pink Mizuno running shoes became iconic. A piece in Vogue spoke of her Barbie-doll looks and suggested she might be the one to turn red-state Texas purple. Maria Shriver obliged with a fawning profile for NBC. And so on.
Meanwhile theres Stefanik. Though her principles arent surprising for a Republican she favors lower taxes, less regulation and a foreign policy rooted in American strength her real appeal has been her ability to connect her principles to the concerns of ordinary voters.
Take ObamaCare. Certainly shes for repeal. But when Stefanik speaks of it, she notes how her familys business first saw their employee plan canceled because of ObamaCare and then got hit with a 30 percent hike in premiums. That resonates with many farmers and small businesses in her struggling upstate district.