Speakeasy With John Harwood

A central force behind this year’s mid-term election campaign is neither a political party nor a candidate. It is EMILY’s List, which for the last three decades had worked to assist Democratic women in politics. Originally organized around fund-raising – EMILY is an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast – the group now recruits and trains as well as finances women candidates. Its only litmus-test issue is support for abortion rights. What makes the organization loom so large in 2018 is the combination of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat and Donald Trump’s provocations from the White House. More than 300 women – a record number - are now running for Congress. Thousands more have stepped forward for offices at all levels of government. That the emergent Me-Too movement has also propelled women into the 2018 arena adds a special irony. Before becoming president of EMILY’S List, Stephanie Schriock managed the winning 2008 Senate campaign of Al Franken – whose resignation last year made him the highest-profile Democr