in this case it was phyllis schlafley. i think the lesson that should be learned by both the right and the left is that individual action and grassroots activism in a democracy can matter, at least under some circumstances if the circumstances are right. long-time republican party activists, phyllis schlafley started a movement called stop e.r.a. declaring that e.r.a. meant the drafting of women into the military -- remember america was just emerging from the vietnam war. she also argued that it would take away statutory rights of wives and mothers. it would federalize laws that were perceived as the proper jurisdiction of states and would rescind or overturn previous labor legislation protecting women. and the stop e.r.a. movement spread like wildfire among traditional women. now, schlafley, although she proclaimed to be a housewife, which she was, but she also came into the e.r.a. fight as an experienced organizer with an extensive network of republican women supporters throughout the country. and when she announced that