Kirsten Powers, writing in USA Today, accuses left-wing organizations of waging their own "war on women" with what she calls a "misogynist crusade" against former CNN anchor and school reform advocate Campbell Brown.
The American Federation of Teachers and union-backed lobbying groups have lashed out at Brown, who is helping students in New York sue the state over harmful teacher tenure laws that protect under-performing teachers.
AFT president Randi Weingarten attempted to discredit Brown based on her marriage to former Romney adviser Dan Senor, implying that her husband's political affiliations sully her connection to the movement.
"To Weingarten, women are not people with thoughts of their own. No, they're empty vessels who do their husband's bidding," writes Powers in response.
Another opponent of education reform suggested that Brown's only asset in the teacher tenure reform movement is her looks.
The union-backed lobbying groups Alliance for Quality Education and the New York Communities for Change have launched a fake Twitter account and website smearing Brown as a "right-wing elitist" and depicting her as a marionette.
Powers points out that Brown, who is not registered with either major political party, is working with several male former Democratic staffers on her teacher tenure reform project, yet none of these men have been subjected to the mockery that Brown has experienced:
There has been no suggestion that these men —none of whom is an education expert — lack the intellect or standing to have an opinion on this topic, whereas Brown has been cast as an interloping bobble head. Education historian Diane Ravitch told The Washington Post of Brown, "She is a good media figure because of her looks, but she doesn't seem to know or understand anything about teaching and why tenure matters. ... I know it sounds sexist to say that she is pretty, but that makes her telegenic, even if what she has to say is total nonsense."