Ellen Malcolm, President, Founder of Pro-Abortion Group Emily’s List Retires
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 6, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Ellen Malcolm has held the reins to the multi-million dollar Emily’s List for years and turned the organization into one of the biggest players in the Democratic Party. Emily’s List is frequently a "queenmaker" because its massive donations and staff help can dwarf the efforts of other candidates.
Malcolm, put Emily’s List on equal footing nationally with such venerable pro-abortion institutions as Planned Parenthood and NARAL.
With the acronym Early Money is Like Yeast — that it grows political campaigns — Malcolm was able to create a national network of abortion advocates who would send millions of dollars to pre-selected pro-abortion women candidates who frequently won party primaries because of the boost.
The Emily’s List mantra is that the organization only supports women and its candidates must adhere to a strict pro-abortion theme — going as far as opposing a ban on partial-birth abortions and favoring forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions.
Her efforts won her respect but also complaints from her peers because of the group’s ability to defeat male candidates who had been longtime party stalwarts and, perhaps, equally pro-abortion.
Malcolm announced her retirement today and said she will be replaced by a veteran Senate staffer.
She will continue to be involved in the operation of the group as the chair of the board of directors but day-to-day activities will now be handled by Stephanie Schriock, who is much younger at 36 than the 62-year-old Malcolm and can better relate to the new crop of pro-abortion zealots.
"We’ve set the stage for making history," Malcolm told the Washington Post about the group’s 25-year history. "We’ve had astonishing victories. The U.S. House is a very different place today than it was when we began. The world has changed."
She says her group has elected more than 100 women over the years to federal and state offices.
Schriock spoke of the generational change at Emily’s List with a slightly abrasive comment about the woman she is replacing.
"People like Ellen Malcolm have fought a battle so that I can be successful," Schriock said in an interview. "But I realized, you know what? It’s my turn."
Schriock is a native of the heavily Democratic, but heavily Catholic, Butte, Montana, where she ran the 2006 election campaign for pro-abortion Sen. Jon Tester. She moved to the left in 2008 by running the campaign of comedian Al Franken, who barely won his race against pro-life Norm Coleman.
Tester, who earned the ire of Montana pro-life advocates by promising a vote for a pro-life bill and then voting pro-abortion, praised his former staffer.
"She’s got the drive, the smarts and the work ethic it takes for success in anything she does," he told the Post. "Although she’ll be sorely missed in my office, her passion for doing what’s right will serve our entire country — and our kids and grandkids — for the better."
Schriock told the newspaper she will primarily focus on raising money, recruiting candidates, and devising the 2010 mid-term election strategy in what is appearing to be an increasingly uphill battle for abortion advocates.
"Every little piece of my career has come to this and I’m going to bring all of it with me," she said.
Malcolm says Schriock will do well because she views modern-day campaigning through the lens of the Internet.
Judy Lichtman, who led the group’s presidential search committee, told the newspaper Schriock is a leader of the "next generation of women in politics."
Malcom came under fire during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign for supporting Hillary Clinton and taking some tmie to come around to Barack Obama.
She eventually said she wasn’t sure Obama will be able to appeal to women voters.
The Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund, a pro-life women’s organization, has a history of outperforming its pro-abortion counterpart Emily’s List despite a significant funding disadvantage.
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