In all seriousness, what does it take for a Democrat to lose an endorsement from the National Organization of Women? Choosing Larry Flynt as a campaign manager? Would that at least have them hold off for at least a couple of days in order to make the endorsement not seem as blatantly partisan and mindless as their endorsement of Jerry Brown just hours after discovering that his campaign strategized over painting opponent Meg Whitman as a “whore”?

Jerry Brown announced he has received the endorsement of the National Organization for Women, less than 24 hours after the emergence of a recorded message in which Brown can be heard in a conversation with advisors in which someone calls Whitman a “whore.” Coincidence? You be the judge. Whitman’s campaign pounced after the audio was made public, sending out a release Thursday night from spokeswoman Sarah Pompei calling the use of the term “an insult to both Meg Whitman and to the women of California. This is an appalling and unforgivable smear against Meg Whitman. At the very least Mr. Brown tacitly approved this despicable slur and he himself may have used the term at least once on this recording.” As if on cue, Brown’s campaign Friday released the endorsement from NOW championing Brown’s record on women’s rights. “As Governor, Mayor, and Attorney General, Jerry Brown has promoted and defended women’s rights,” said California NOW President Patty Bellasalma.

So let’s get this straight. NOW has endorsed the man whose team wanted to castigate a female opponent as a “whore,” and come out in opposition to the pro-choice woman and successful entrepreneur running on the other ticket. And they jumped into the race in less than a day after that audio surfaced.

Clearly, NOW is more concerned with Democratic Party status than with the actual progress of women, which Whitman represents, even though Whitman supports NOW’s biggest policy issue. NOW’s leadership doesn’t even have the fig leaf of abortion to cover its transparent toadying to the Democrats.

But I wonder whether something else isn’t at work here, too. Whitman showed that women can succeed at the highest levels of the private sector with her incredible leadership at eBay, and that women can turn that success into political force. That flies in the face of their need to hype victimization over self-determination, and demand the expansion of government interventions to dictate outcomes rather than create an equitable environment in which all can compete equally and win or lose based on their talent, drive, and fortunes.

Whitman represents the future that NOW claimed to champion when Jerry Brown served his two terms as governor. Now that the future has arrived, NOW wants to live in the paternalistic past and want Californians to vote for the man who will protect them from the “whore.” Ironies abound in this endorsement. (via the Boss Emeritus)

Update: Perhaps they should just change their name to THEN.