Quotes of the day

“‘Women tend to have a more practical, less ideological way of approaching life and, therefore, approaching politics, and our party doesn’t always take kindly to that,’ said former Ohio Rep. Deborah Pryce, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference from 2003 to 2007…

“Scozzafava’s friend Janet Duprey, a moderate Republican who represents the adjacent state Assembly district in western New York, says the defection of party elders like George Pataki to her more conservative opponent Doug Hoffman reminded her of the GOP’s bad old days in the mid-1970s.

“‘I started my career in politics in 1975. … I went through that,’ Duprey told the Albany Times-Union. ‘I had some people who felt that a woman should not enter politics, a woman should not run. … I hope that we’ve moved beyond that point. But I have to tell you, watching this go on, I’ve had some déjà vu back to 1975.’

“‘It has been very difficult to watch,’ she added. ‘You have to ask some of these men, why weren’t they there with our Republican candidate when she could have really used our help?’”

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“On a conference call (.mp3) with reporters today, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz seems to have upped the rhetorical ante in the push to cast Republican parliamentary tactics as sexist, comparing their repeated interruptions to violence against women.

“She told reporters she wanted to ‘express and underscore my concern over essentially what amounts to the Republicans’ ‘back-of-the-hand’ treatment to women, issues that are important to women, particularly women’s health.’”

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“Through it all, the example both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin set is so admirable. I respect any woman who will go out there and run for office. Maybe it’s a cliché, but no matter how many differences I may have with a woman politically, there is still a sense of kinship I feel for a woman in politics…

“So yes, Sarah Palin is a woman with five children and her physical appearance is deemed ‘too beautiful for politics.’ And on the other end, Hillary Clinton is criticized for not being beautiful enough, for being ‘too tough’ in the man’s world that she resides.

“It seems to me the male-dominated media suffers from a Goldilocks Syndrome that keeps women from shattering the glass ceiling. Worse, I fear it will prevent tomorrow’s female leaders from even seeking office.”

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“‘Today, I had a thorough and frank discussion with Assemblywoman Scozzafava,’ Kolb said in a statement. ‘As a result, Dede has tendered, and I accepted, her resignation as our Conference’s Leader Pro Tempore. Over the coming weeks, I will be assessing who will serve as our Conference’s next Leader Pro Tempore to lead our Assembly floor debate.’

“Scozzafava endorsed Owens the weekend prior to Election Day, enraging her Republican colleagues, many of which told POLITICO on Friday that she would face a cold reception when the Assembly reconvened on Monday.”

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