In 1970, Bella Abzug decided to run for a U.S. House of Representatives seat, representing Manhattan’s Upper West Side and running on an anti-Vietnam war platform that also incorporated her feminist views. Abzug's campaign slogan was: “This woman’s place is in the House … the House of Representatives!” In the general election, Abzug ran against Republican Barry Farber, a radio talk show host, and garnered 52% of the vote. Eventually, Abzug defeated the seven–term incumbent, Leonard Farbstein.
Barbra Streisand supported Bella Abzug's campaign for the Democratic seat in Congress. Streisand held a fundraiser for Abzug in her New York home, and also rode around New York in a flatbed truck, campaigning for her.
Madeline Lee produced the concert (her husband was Jack Gilford, from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum). Lee told author Anne Edwards that, originally, Streisand was booked to perform an entire concert for Abzug until her commitments to fulfill her Las Vegas hotel contracts interfered. “Marty Erlichman met with me, the director, Stanely Prager, Hal Prince who was guiding the event and the rest of the executive staff,” she recalled. “We just couldn't afford to lose Streisand's name value. Bella had been under vitriolic attack. Rocks were thrown through the windows of her campaign headquarters by militant supporters of Israel who thought she was anti-Israel. We were rather desperate. I came up with an idea called Broadway for Bella, where in the first half top Broadway stars would sing and perform numbers from current hit shows.”