Congressional Candidate Snubbed by Clinton In-laws

When Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz decided to run for Pennsylvania governor in 2014, the Democratic primary for her old seat became wide open. Marjorie Margolies, Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law, entered the race for her old Congressional seat (Pa 13).  Many pundits assumed that she would become the front runner due to the fund raising prowess of the Clintons. So far, Clintons have not offered Margolies much support, which stands in contrast to the all out effort that former President Bill Clinton waged for Kathleen Kane's contested primary for Pa Attorney General.

Congressional candidate Marjorie Margolies raised $185,000 for the quarter. This puts her last in the race for dollars. State Senator Daylin Leach raised over $350,000, physician Valerie Arkoosh collected more than $285,00, and State Representative Brendan Boyle raised $252,000

Several Clinton loyalists, such as former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Vernon Jordan, and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, did contribute to Margolies' campaign. It is a little surprising that Margolies' Wall Street son or his wife Chelsea did not contribute to his mother's race.

For the Clintons' not to donate to the campaign is akin to a slap in the face. Without Margolies' 1993 vote for Clinton's budget, it would have failed in Congress. She made that vote knowing that she would lose her Congressional seat. 

Hilary Clinton could have given a boost to Margolies campaign when she recently spoke at Bryn Mawr College at the Women in Public Service Project. The project, which trains women in conflict regions to be leaders, is very similar to the program that Margolies runs, Women's Campaign International.  Yet there is no sighting or mention of Margolies.

Chelsea, write your mother-in-law a check. Otherwise, she might not be able to stay in the race.

Women's Campaign International Helping Women Here and Abroad

Tonight, I attended a fundraiser for Women's Campaign International (WCI) headed by former Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies Mezvinsky (MMM), who just happens to be Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law. WCI was started in 1998 after MMM led the United States delegation to the fourth world conference on women in Beijing, China.  First Lady Hilary Clinton spoke at the Beijing conference.

Women's Campaign International teaches advocacy skills to women and girls in emerging democracies and post-conflict regions. They teach the women how to speak in public, effectively lobby, deal with the media, conduct letter writing and social media campaigns etc.

They also run programs that help women being  economically self- sufficient. They teach budgeting, provide agricultural tools in farming regions, and even provide martial counseling for couples to help the women in the home.

They are operating in 16 Middle Eastern and North African countries, having recently been forced to leave Syria due to the escalating violence. They also run a similar program in West Philadelphia. The organization prepares women for elective office by teaching them leadership skills such as public speaking and budgeting.

They do all of this on a shoestring.

Jeff Gavin, a WCI board member said, "Our program in Liberia, which trained 600 women only cost $25,000."

The programs that WCI seems to be making a difference in Muslims' attitude toward the United States.

"After a day of attacks in Iraq, one of the Iraqis called and said tell the United States that we love them." recalled Margolies Mezvinsky.

In a Kevin Bacon moment, MMM recounted a conversation with a state department official, who was asked if he knew about this small, but wonderful program that WCI was running. I am betting that he did since it is run by his boss's in-law.


For those that do not know Margolies Mezvinsky's history, it is pretty incredible to see her still giving to others after everything that she has been through. Some people in her position would have stopped helping other people.