Grading Obama's First Term for Women

Article here. Excerpt:

'The goal of this article is to evaluate how women and women's issues have fared during President's Obama's first term. We'll examine the entire four years in order to gauge progress and unresolved shortcomings.

Those of you who have followed my writings here and at the Daily Beast, know I was an early critic of Obama on women's issues. To his credit, I have watched Obama evolve since then. To wit, his recent appointment of Debbie Wasserman Schultz to DNC Chair, after he irked women's group early in his term by selecting anti-choice Tim Kaine. Whether Obama's evolution is personal growth or politically motivated, I will leave to you, the reader, to decide.

I need to lay out two disclaimers. First, Obama is not directly accountable for all metrics. For example, as relates to jobs, he cannot direct gender hiring preferences in the private sector (although, he can lead by example). Second, this article does not examine whether the GOP offers a better alternative in areas of weakness. For example, while Obama's efforts on the Paycheck Fairness Act may be disappointing, the GOP is patently against legislative equal pay, period. Let's begin.'