posted November 28, 2011 02:21 PM            

In America today, our culture places a lot of value on promoting women. However, it is very rare that the mainstream media gives any positive attention to the contributions conservative women have had on our society.

At the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute​, we promote mentors and women leaders from all walks of life who are committed to the constitutional principles of individual freedom, economic liberty, limited government, personal responsibility, and traditional values, and we wanted to honor some of the great women who have been champions of these ideals.

We have teamed up with some of our favorite conservative men at HUMAN EVENTS to bring you the Most Influential Conservative Women in America, highlighting the lives and achievements of the top ladies of the Conservative movement. Click on each name to read the profile. Glenn Beck​ writes about Michele Bachmann​; Rep. Steve King on the great Phyllis Schlafly​; Film director Steve Bannon on Sarah Palin; Jason Mattera on Michelle Malkin, and a whole lot more.

The women on this list have made a tremendous impact for the better on this great country—and even abroad—and we are thrilled with the opportunity to give them the attention they deserve.

Sincerely,

Alyssa Cordova
Lecture Director
Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute

1—Sarah Palin
Grit, Tenacity and Fortitude http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47642

Nominee for Vice President in 2008, Governor of Alaska, leader of Tea Party Movement in America, a widely admired professional, wife, mother and woman of faith.

2—Congresswoman Michele Bachmann
God-Given Rights, Small Government and A Strong National Defense http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47644

Three term congresswoman from Minnesota, wife, mother of 5, foster mother of 23, national leader for taxpayers besieged by overwhelming government intrusion into their lives.

3—Phyllis Schlafly
The Clearest Political and Constitutional Thinker of Our Time http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47706

Led the charge against radical feminism in the 1970’s by mobilizing millions of women to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. She is the founder and president of Eagle Forum, author of more than 20 books, attorney, syndicated columnist, campus lecturer and debater, married 45 years, and mother of four sons and two daughters.

4—Ann Coulter
Unapologetic, Unsinkable, Unwavering Ann Coulter http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47676

Author of seven New York Times best-selling books, a television and radio commentator, attorney, nationally syndicated columnist, and the most popular campus speaker in the country.

5—Michelle Malkin
The Sledgehammer to the Left Who Holds the GOP Accountable http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47673

New York Times best-selling author of titles including Culture of Corruption, Invasion, In Defense of Internment, and Unhinged. Malkin runs the most popular conservative blog in America averaging 6 million page views per month, has been married for 13 years, is a popular campus speaker, and mother of two.

6—Bay Buchanan
Conviction and Courage http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47736

United States Treasurer under President Reagan​ beginning in 1981. At the age of 32, she was the youngest person to hold that position since it was established in 1775. Bay currently serves as president of The American Cause, an educational foundation dedicated to advancing traditional conservative issues.

7—Marji Ross
Marji Ross: A Woman of Enthusiastic, Energetic and Personable Leadership http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47738

President and publisher of Regnery Publishing, which has published over 50 best- selling books during her tenure. Her decision to print John O’Neill’s, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry changed the course of history in 2004. She is a wife and proud mother of three daughters.

8—Cleta Mitchell
A Passionate and Articulate Advocate for Conservative Principles http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47709

President of the American Conservative Union Foundation which funds the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC. With more than 30 years of experience in law, politics and public policy, Ms. Mitchell advises corporations, nonprofit and issue organizations, candidates, campaigns, and individuals on state and federal campaign finance law, election law, and compliance issues related to lobbying, ethics and financial disclosure.

9—Michelle Easton
A Woman Who Changed the Face of the Conservative Movement http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47748

Founded Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, the foremost organization devoted to mentoring young women for strong conservative leadership, served 12 years for President Ronald Reagan​ and George H. W. Bush​, president of Virginia State Board of Education for Governor Allen, attorney, married 31 years, and mother of three sons.

10—Star Parker
A True Conservative to Her Core http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47746

A former single welfare mother living in Los Angeles who reformed her life and became the president and founder of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education (CURE). Wrote two books, Pimps, ****** and Welfare Brats and Uncle Sam’s Plantation, powerful campus speaker, television and radio personality, and mother of two daughters. In 2010, Star ran for the Republican Congressional seat in California’s 37th District and was unanimously elected. Though she did not win, she increased Republican votes in the district.

(Honorary) 11—Margaret Thatcher
The Iron Lady http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47744

posted November 28, 2011 02:32 PM            

Sarah Palin

I repeatedly get asked: “Why would you make a movie about Sarah Palin​–what could we possibly not already know about her?”

The answer is quite simply, “everything that’s important.”

Sarah Palin is what I describe as a “McLuhanesque” figure—one of the most media-saturated people in the world, relentlessly covered by the 24/7 news cycle, yet her real story is there hiding in plain sight, never having been told.

And what story exactly is that? The rise of a woman from complete obscurity to national prominence through her own force of will and sense of justice.

When The Undefeated starts in the late 80s, Sarah Palin is working on a small commercial fishing vessel she co-owns with her husband Todd, who is a blue-collar union member, working on the North Slope. The daughter of a school teacher, she is not part of the social, political, or cultural elite in the remote Mat-Su Valley, 40 miles northeast of Anchorage. In fact, Alaska at that time, was still a wilderness with the rough-hewen culture of a frontier state.

She is essentially out of the loop in a state that is out of the loop.

Sarah Palin is the little guy in “Walmart Nation:” just as obscure, just as powerless, just as insignificant. And that is precisely why she is a role model for young men and women. She didn’t have a rich daddy, she didn’t marry a wealthy or connected husband, she doesn’t have an Ivy League union card. What she did have was the grit, tenacity and fortitude to accomplish great things against almost insurmountable odds.

It is those attributes that are the underpinnings of the American frontier and our success as a country: the “can do” spirit, and a doggedness that just won’t quit. That’s The Undefeated.

I came to appreciate what Gov. Palin​ stood for as I made the Tea Party Trilogy: 'Generation Zero', 'Fire From the Heartland', and 'Battle for America'; a series of three films about the financial collapse of our country and the rise of the Tea Party.

I had never met Gov. Palin, but had filmed her innumerable times at big rallies and Tea Party events—from the dustbowl of Searchlight, Nevada, to the Nashville Tea Party convention, and everything in between.

From a distance, I saw not merely a charismatic leader, but someone who had a very plainspoken way of connecting with the working men and women of our country. Sarah Palin didn’t simply electrify crowds, she moved them.

And that is unique. Particularly in today’s cynical, media-trained, camera-ready politician.

It was during that time that I heard also from those in power on Wall Street, inside the Beltway, and in Hollywood, about how far over her head she was in trying to be a national leader, that she was essentially an airhead, bimbo, and someone strutting far beyond her capabilities. In short the epitome of modern American culture’s “Jersey Shore” politicians.

The establishment’s verdict was in: The meme about Sarah Palin is set in stone: a combination of a divisive airhead coupled with a “Christianist” harpy. Caribou Barbie meets Bible Spice.

After watching the way she spoke to these crowds and the way the crowds responded, it dawned on me why they derided and mocked her: They feared who she was, what she represented, and what she said. Sarah Palin was an existential threat to their system.

And that is the simple reason that my team and I made the film The Undefeated.

We now know that even people who have spent years following her and think they know her, are astonished by what they missed. To wit: She is the most anti-establishment figure in modern political history, from her time on the Wasilla city council through her “crony capitalism” speech against the “permanent political class” at the Iowa Classic Balloon Field on Labor Day weekend 2011, this is someone who has stood by the side of the working men and women of this country, at every level, for the last 20 years.

posted November 30, 2011 08:45 AM            

Michele Bachmann

I am a huge fan of Minnesota, but apparently some of the voters there are spending too much time in the 10,000 lakes and not enough researching candidates. Gov. Jesse Ventura​? Sen. Al Franken? And, if those two aren’t enough, Minnesota is the only state that voted for Walter Mondale​ instead of President Reagan in 1984.

Fortunately, voters there finally started to right the ship when they elected Michele Bachmann to the United States Congress.

Congresswoman Bachmann not only has an intricate knowledge and understanding of the U.S. Constitution, she actually wants to adhere to it—a simple idea that is quickly becoming extinct.

Many people, of course, hate that Congresswoman Bachmann believes in the words of our Founders and is not afraid to say so. The elite political class, along with the mainstream media, have done everything in their power to smear her by attempting to portray her as crazy or unintelligent. President Clinton​, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi​ and the Democrat Caucus all put their efforts into ousting Bachmann from her seat in the House during the 2010 midterm elections. No dollar was spared in the onslaught against her.

I think our Founders would be proud of the way Michele represents their principles. She advocates for a small, limited government, tax cuts and a strong national defense. She understands that our rights are given to us by God and not by the government, that equality of opportunity is different than equality of outcomes and that honor and character matter more than polls and focus groups.

I greatly respect that Congresswoman Bachmann was one of the first leaders of the conservative movement to vocalize her support for the Tea Party. And she has never backed down, no matter how hard the media have attempted to portray these patriotic Americans as radical, violent racists.

She also created and is the Chairwoman of the Tea Party Caucus which has 60 members in the House and four members in the Senate. Their mission is to promote fiscal responsibility, hold fast to the Constitution and limit the size of government. With Michele leading the charge, they might just succeed.

I know where I stand in the debate in Washington: with the principles George Washington​ and Thomas Jefferson​ supported during the earliest years of our great nation. These are the same principles that Congresswoman Bachmann refers to when making decisions in the name of her constituents. She is unafraid to bring her conservative beliefs to the American people.