Emily's List to reach out to 100,000 women in Iowa for Hillary

[Herman Munster]

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071101/NEWS/71101044/1001

Washington, D.C. — A national group that seeks to elect more Democratic women to political office plans a mid-November drive to bring more Iowa women to their neighborhood caucuses.

The group Emily’s List, which supports women who back abortion rights, will try to reach as many as 100,000 women who might support the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

Maren Helsa, the director of the group’s women’s vote program, said a Web site will be set up that will try to decrease anxiety among women who have not been to caucuses in the past and don’t know what to expect.

There will also be outreach through calls and advertising to Democratic women who have not historically attended caucuses, and a particular targeting of young female voters, those 17 and 18.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has been found in polls to have strong appeal to younger voters. But Helsa said, “We are not ready to cede those voters to Senator Obama.”

She would not divulge the cost of the drive by the independent group, which is not connected with the Clinton campaign.