This “war on women” storyline reeks of political opportunism on both sides of the aisle. First of all, to say many in the GOP are conducting a “war on women” is so simplistic in nature that it deserves less newspaper ink and more laughter.
So let me get this straight: Republicans are conducting a war on women because they back pro-life policies and believe contraception options shouldn’t be forced on religious institutions? This is a “war on women” because they don’t want taxpayer money going to fund abortions through Planned Parenthood?
C’mon folks. Let’s use a little common sense here. It would be more accurate for Democrats to say that the GOP is conducting a “war on pro-choice women.” Of course that doesn’t have the same political punch in an election year does it? No, it has to be an attack on ALL women.
Their whole argument is so disingenuous. This is about how Democrats saw a great opportunity to make political hay but give them credit. They have won the framing of the media narrative and it’s put Republicans back on their heels.
The Romney campaign has pushed back and said that it’s the Obama administration that is conducting the “real war on women.” They cite that 92 percent of all job losses under Obama have harmed women.
Give me a break. Nice try but that’s a huge stretch. They are trying to fight back by using the economy as their springboard but its falling flat. That’s not the way to go about winning this argument.
On principle, since this is really about abortion, contraception, and respect for women, what the campaign should be doing is defending pro-life policies. But good luck with Romney trying to do that on the stump. He’s not comfortable doing it, the campaign has no desire to stray from the economy, and the media would have a field day with that story.
Still, maybe they need to take a page from the “Feminists for Life” playbook that concentrate on the empowerment of the women when it comes to the life issue. Isn’t that the moral high ground for the Romney campaign rather than turning this into an economic issue?
Finally, on a separate note about Hilary Rosen’s comments: Let me just say that I know Hilary Rosen from my time as a contributor at CNN. She’s a good person and we’re friendly. Obviously her remarks about Ann Romney were poorly chosen and I’m sure she’d like to have those comments back (wouldn’t all of us like to take back some of the things we’ve said!).
Hillary Rosen is a liberal woman who made a liberal comment about stay-at-home moms. It goes to a mindset that liberals have when it comes to conservative women who decide to stay at home with the kids rather than enter the workforce. But let’s leave it at that shall we?
For people to start demonizing Rosen’s comments and making her public enemy No. 1 is a bit much. She is a mom, too, who is trying her best to raise a family and work at the same time. She has her own challenges trying to juggle both.
The demonization in politics is out of control. From the GOP’s “war on women” to the Obama administration’s “war on religion,” politicians on both sides of the aisle are playing into stereotypes that are not conducive to real dialogue.