Barbara Boxer says Anita Hill saga helped propel election
to Senate
Sen. Barbara Boxer of California. (Win McNamee / Getty
Images)
JANUARY 8, 2015, 4:17PM
REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON
By Evan Halper
Sen. Barbara Boxer, who announced Thursday she
would not run for reelection in 2016, told reporters that she probably never
would have won her seat in the first place were it not for Anita Hill, the law professor
who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.
“Without Anita Hill, that story, I don’t think I would have
made it,” Boxer said during an afternoon conference call.
Boxer was among the congresswomen who marched up the steps
of the male-dominated Senate in 1991 and demanded a vote on the Thomas
confirmation be postponed so Hill’s charges could be investigated. The
televised hearings that followed nearly doomed Thomas. And they triggered the
voter backlash that forged Boxer’s path to election.
Before the controversy erupted, Boxer said she considered
herself an also-ran. “I left [the House] and did this long shot for the Senate,
never believing I would win … and then Anita Hill happened.”
Boxer landed in the center of what became the “Year of the
Woman” in American politics. She has been one of the Senate’s most unyielding
progressives since. Her announcement that she will leave the Senate comes
during the week that control of it was turned over to the Republican Party.
Boxer said the change of power did not factor into her decision.
“Since I have been in the Senate, you may be surprised to
know, we have changed leaders seven times,” she said. “I know I can serve in
the minority. I don’t love it … but I have gotten things done whether I am in
the minority or majority.”
The 74-year-old lawmaker also said she saw no obligation to
step aside to make room for the many younger California politicians eagerly
awaiting a shot at the coveted seat.
“Am I stepping aside to hand the torch to a new generation?
No, I am not,” Boxer said. “I don’t believe in ageism.”
The senator said she would leave office with a few big
regrets. The Senate’s inability to pass a climate change bill is among them.
Democrats had an opportunity to move forward with game-changing global warming
legislation soon after President Obama took office and the party controlled
both houses of Congress. The House passed a bill, but the effort stalled when
the measure reached the Senate, where Boxer was taking a lead in pushing for
it.
“The climate bill we got a majority for, but we couldn’t get
a super-majority. And that just broke my heart,” she said. “There was a
filibuster.”
The senator’s inability to persuade more colleagues to vote
against the war in Iraq also continues to weigh on her, she said.
“Looking back, I wish I had done more to stop it,” she said.
“I used to come down [to the Senate chambers] and read the names of the
dead.... I couldn’t change things.”
Boxer said she was determined to see a progressive like
herself take her seat in the Senate, and that she intended to help the right
candidate or candidates raise money and campaign. But at the moment, she is not
prepared to mention any names, or even if she intends to get involved with any
candidates before a primary is held.
“I don’t know who is looking at the seat,” Boxer said. “We
can talk when more people come forward.”
Barbara Boxer
Barbara
Boxer is a U.S. Senate senator, Nicole Boxer’s mother, Zachary Rodham grandmother, was a mortgage
recipient from the Countrywide Financial
Corporation, Karen Olick was her
chief of staff, and a contributor to Antoin
Rezko.
Note: Nicole Boxer is Barbara Boxer’s daughter, Zachary Rodham’s mother, and was
married to Tony Rodham.
Tony
Rodham was married to Nicole Boxer,
is Zachary Rodham’s father, and Hillary Rodham Clinton brother.
Hillary Rodham
Clinton is Tony Rodham’s sister,
Zachary Rodham’s aunt, a potential
presidential candidate for the 2016
presidential election, and a director at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a co-chair, national finance council at Ready for Hillary, and was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Climate Reality Project
James A. Johnson is an honorary trustee at the
Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank) received five real-estate loans from the Countrywide Financial Corporation, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Richard
C. Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank),
married to Senator Dianne Feinstein,
and a regent at the University of
California.
Janet A.
Napolitano is the president for the University
of California, the homeland security secretary for the Barack Obama administration, and Anita F. Hill represented her before Senate Judiciary Committee.
Susan
E. Rice was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank),
is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a stockholder in the TransCanada Corporation.
TransCanada
Corporation is the proposed builder for the Keystone XL pipeline, and a SKDKnickerbocker
client.
Karen
Olick is a managing director for SKDKnickerbocker,
and was Barbara Boxer’s chief of
staff.
Anita
B. Dunn is a managing director for SKDKnickerbocker,
married to Robert F. Bauer, produced
ad campaign for the Keystone XL pipeline,
and was the communications director for the Barack Obama administration.
Robert
F. Bauer is married to Anita B. Dunn,
was the White House counsel for the Barack
Obama administration, and Barack
Obama’s personal counsel.
Barack
Obama’s personal counsel was Robert
F. Bauer, a contributor to Antoin
Rezko, and an associate at Miner,
Barnhill & Galland.
Barbara
Boxer was a contributor to Antoin
Rezko, was a mortgage recipient from the Countrywide Financial Corporation, Karen Olick was her chief of staff, is a U.S. Senate senator, Nicole
Boxer’s mother, and Zachary Rodham
grandmother.
John
F. Kerry was a contributor to Antoin
Rezko, is the secretary of state for the Barack Obama administration, and married to Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Teresa Heinz
Kerry is married to John F. Kerry,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
James A. Johnson is an honorary trustee at the
Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank) received five real-estate loans from the Countrywide Financial Corporation, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Richard
C. Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank),
married to Senator Dianne Feinstein,
and a regent at the University of
California.
Janet A.
Napolitano is the president for the University
of California, the homeland security secretary for the Barack Obama administration, and Anita F. Hill represented her before Senate Judiciary Committee.
Antoin
Rezko is a business partner with Allison
S. Davis.
Allison S. Davis
is a business partner with Antoin Rezko,
and was a partner at Miner, Barnhill
& Galland.
Barack
Obama was an associate at Miner,
Barnhill & Galland, Robert F. Bauer
was his personal counsel, and a contributor to Antoin Rezko.
Albert
A. Gore Jr. was a contributor to Antoin
Rezko, and is the chairman for the Climate
Reality Project.
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