The XX Factor: What women really think.

• « Prev | Main | Next »

  
  

  New Wrinkle on McCain and Pay Equity

  Posted Tuesday, September 16, 2008 2:32 PM | By Rachael Larimore

  While John McCain might have made the politically ill-advised move of voting against the equal pay bill, it’s nice to see he practices pay equality. Women in his office make $1.04 for ever $1 his male staffers make. And InstaPundit links to this blog post saying that Senate records show that women working on McCain’s Senate staff make more money than their counterparts in Obama’s Senate office.

  I figured that it couldn’t be as simple as that, so I did some Googling, and indeed there is an explanation. But it doesn’t really help Obama very much. Turns out McCain has more senior staffers that are women. Per ABCNews’ Jake Tapper:

  Only one of Obama's five best-paid Senate staffers is a woman. Of McCain's five best-paid Senate staffers, three are women.

  Of Obama's top 20 salaried Senate staffers, seven are women. Of McCain's top 20 salaried Senate staffers, 13 are women.

  Granted, it's a small sample size, so I don't think we should try to infer too much from it. It doesn't mean that Obama's a sexist pig or that John McCain is the most enlightened gent in the Senate. But it should quell some of the skepticism that McCain is "anti-woman."

  Filed under: women, Obama, mccain

About Rachael Larimore

• Rachael Larimore is Slate's copy chief.

PRINT DISCUSS