Jacques: Do Democrats really care about women?
Democrats are sanctimonious in their rhetoric of being the party for women. Especially the past two years, liberals have sought to capture anti-President Donald Trump sentiment in the hopes of wiping out Republicans in the midterms.
And a big part of that strategy is making sure women turn out to vote. (Just look at how Democrats are handling the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh.)
So it caught my attention when I saw a tweet from Michigan-based Democratic political consultant Joe DiSano last week. He posted a photo of Republican secretary of state candidate Mary Treder Lang, labeling her “crazy eyes.”
Such a baseless attack on a woman’s appearance serves no purpose, and women in the political sphere are subjected to this type of criticism much more than men.
I called DiSano out for his tasteless tweet, but he chose to double down on it. First, he attacked me, accusing me of being a “handmaiden” for Trump and Kavanaugh (whatever that means) and then he said I should just be “happy he only joked about her crazy eyes.”
Susan Demas, who works at the public relations firm Farough & Associates, then jumped in defending DiSano’s tweet. Demas is married to DiSano, and her firm represents Democratic candidate Jocelyn Benson.
Demas tweeted: “Lol Detroit News columnist Ingrid Jacques, who’s spent her entire career attacking Democratic women like Jennifer Granholm and Hillary Clinton with tired GOP talking points, is trying to refashion herself as some sort of conservative feminist to coopt the #pinkwave.”
Apparently Demas doesn’t think it’s possible to be pro-woman and be a conservative. I’ve never attacked a woman for her appearance, and criticisms I’ve made against Democratic women have to do with their policies. Period.
DiSano is not alone in making fun of Treder Lang’s appearance. And other Democrats have gotten on the bandwagon of superficial swipes. State Sen. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights, tweeted out four photos of the past GOP nominees for secretary of state (Treder Lang, Ruth Johnson, Terri Lynn Land and Candice Miller, saying “all grown out of a Petri dish and genetically modified to be exactly the same.”
Huh. Well, they do all happen to be blonde — and women.
Grade-school mockery doesn’t belong in our political realm. And it should be called out, from all sides.
ijacques@detroitnews.com