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Spin Control

Note to Sen. Murray: About that ‘50s reference…

OLYMPIA -- Sen. Patty Murray, in the Senate wings, in the state Capitol on Feb. 20, 2012 (Christian Caple)
OLYMPIA -- Sen. Patty Murray, in the Senate wings, in the state Capitol on Feb. 20, 2012 (Christian Caple)

Sen. Patty Murray, in the state Senate wings on Monday.

Sen. Patty Murray is getting some mileage out of a recent e-mail she sent out as head of the group that raises money to elect or re-elect Democrats to the Senate.

In it, Murray denounces both a comment by a prominent Rick Santorum supporter on "old-style"  birth control and an all-male panel discussing contraception in a House Committee.

I feel like I woke up this morning on the set of “Mad Men.” Republicans have set their time machine for the 1950s – back when, according to one prominent Republican, women could just “put aspirin between their knees” to avoid getting pregnant.

According to a follow -up from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Aspirin Agenda appeal  was a big hit on the money-raising circuit. Murray got mentioned on Meet the Press in a discussion of the controversy which is sometimes framed as being over contraception and other times being about  religious freedom.

Talking heads can argue that point on TV through the election if they want. It's your typically breathless, the sky is falling, "please give us your money before some deadline passes" appeal for campaing cash.

But Spin Control wants to point out one slight flaw in Murray's e-mail.

"Mad Men" is not set in the 1950s. It is set in the 1960s.

True, the '50s is probably considered a more Republican decade, with Ike in the White House, Joe McCarthy in the Senate and men in gray flannel suits. The '60s is probably viewed as the more Democratic decade, with JFK and LBJ, Civil Rights and anti-war protests, flower children, hippies and yippies.

But the adventures of Don Draper, et al, start in 1960, when the ad firm is hired to work on the presidential campaign of a young candidate, a World War II vet that many people see as his party's next generation of leaders. Richard Nixon.

Just sayin.

The full e-mail is inside the blog, for those who aren't on the DSCC list.

friend,

I feel like I woke up this morning on the set of “Mad Men.”
 
Republicans have set their time machine for the 1950s – back when, according to one prominent Republican, women could just “put aspirin between their knees” to avoid getting pregnant.
 
This after Republicans opened a hearing on birth control – and banned women from testifying!
 
We’ve already accumulated 65,000 signatures on our petition opposing their Aspirin Agenda. But I’m too mad to stop at “opposing.” It’s time we punished the people responsible by taking away their jobs.
 
The DSCC is ready to send the GOP agenda back to the 1950s where it belongs – and send these Republicans packing. Will you click here and give $5 or $10 to help us raise $100,000 by the end of today to fire anti-choice Republicans?

 
Here’s the deal: Congress leaves town tonight. And when they come back, Senate Republicans could keep pushing forward on the Blunt amendment, which would let any employer deny coverage of any health care based on “moral convictions.”
 
So now’s the time to show a little conviction of our own – by raising $100,000 to defeat these guys in 2012. 
 
So click here and give generously.
And before these guys go back home for the weekend, let’s remind them that there will be consequences for trying to drag us all back to the 1950s.
 
Thanks for helping the DSCC stand up for women.
 
Sen. Patty Murray
 



Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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