RNC Women

In a deeply flawed article on Politico yesterday, Meredith Shiner and Glenn Thrush tried to use Dede Scozzaffava’s loss in New York as evidence that the GOP has a “women problem.”  They tried to make the connection that because conservatives worked against a female candidate’s campaign, then conservatives must necessarily be against women. 

Washington is famous for being filled with bad logic, but that might take the cake. 

To try to build their case, they highlighted quotes from Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) who described the GOP as: “…a party that doesn’t respect women, a party that doesn’t believe women are equal to men.  I don’t think they attract women to their party.  I think they repulse women.”

Using arguments as poisonous as Wasserman-Schultz’ to bolster a thesis as wrong as the one Shiner and Thrush came up with amounts to journalistic malpractice. 

The GOP is filled with vibrant, conservative women.  Indeed, it was a conservative woman – Sarah Palin – who helped ... more

Please check out the Real Clear Politics blog entry linked here.  Even people like the director of Emily’s List, an organization which works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office, are beginning to take note that women are moving back to the GOP. 

“Democratic women's groups are also pointing to the depressed turnout among women as a key factor, and are seeking to raise money. ‘Republicans made gains this week for one reason: we saw crucial groups of voters staying home or, worse yet, moving to the Republicans,’ EMILY's List president Ellen Malcolm wrote to supporters Thursday.”

While the movement of Independents received most of the media attention, Tuesday’s election again showed us the power of the women’s vote.   In Virginia, despite considerable negative advertising from Creigh Deeds aimed at women, Bob McDonnell turned a 7 point Obama advantage among women in 2008 into an 8 point advantage for himself.

In New Jersey, Chris Christie showed that Republicans can be ... more

Yesterday Francis McClure asked what issues resonate with women. During the past 8 months I have traveled to over 18 states. Everywhere I go, I have discovered that it is the substantive issues that resonate best. Jobs, the economy, and the cost of healthcare are issues that matter the most to women right now. A majority of all mothers report they are responsible for decisions about their family’s health care. Jobs and job loss were the top issues in a recent women’s focus group. Women want their leadership to talk about the issues that affect their ability to support and take care of their families.

The punditry is filled today with the conventional wisdom that independents came back to the Republican Party with yesterday’s elections.  We have been seeing this migration of independents back to our Party build for months, and we believe it will continue through the 2010 cycle.

Indeed, back in September a CNN/Opinion Dynamics poll found a majority of independents disapproving of the president's job performance for the first time.  Independents are moving toward conservative candidates and the GOP because they see the Obama White House, along with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, moving too far and too fast in their push for a government takeover of our health care system.  They see that our economy is continuing to shed jobs, even after the Democrats’ stimulus plan wasted billions of taxpayer dollars, and they are wary of the Democrat plans to increase taxes on everything from bandages and wheelchairs to small businesses and our energy.   

The data bears this out.  Last night, the ... more

Republicans Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie both had good nights, and women were critical to their success.

In Virginia, despite considerable negative advertising from Creigh Deeds aimed at women, Bob McDonnell turned a 7 point Obama advantage among women in 2008 into an 8 point advantage for himself. This equates to an amazing 15 point swing.

In New Jersey, Chris Christie showed that Republicans can be competitive in the Northeast among both men and women. Chris Christie lost women by only 5 points in a state where Barack Obama won women by 17 points just a year ago.

As I write this on Election Day 2009, I am struck by the importance of the women’s vote in today’s elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. 

According to Rasmussen Reports polling on October 29^th, John Corzine was favored by just 46 percent of female voters in New Jersey.  Contrast this to 2008, when CNN exit polling showed Barack Obama won more than 58 percent of the Garden State’s female vote.  That 12 point swing could be enough to put Republican Chris Christie over the top. 

The story is the same in Virginia.  In 2008, Barack Obama won 53% of female voters there.  But this year, Rasmussen polling on October 27th shows Democrat gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds with just 47% of the female vote. 

While no one could argue that either Creigh Deeds or John Corzine have the political skill of Barack Obama, it is just as true that the White House has thrown its considerable clout behind each candidate.  President Obama has held rallies with each of them.  The White House ... more

Nancy Pelosi unveiled the House Democrats’ version of the health reform bill yesterday at a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.  The fact that the ceremony was closed to the public was fitting, since Pelosi’s bill was drafted behind closed doors without public comment – much less Republican input. 

The Pelosi Plan is 1,990 pages long, or about 600 pages longer than HillaryCare in 1994 or Harry Reid’s proposal in the Senate.  What fills those extra pages?  Even more hypocrisy. 

At her unveiling ceremony, Pelosi bragged that her bill would not add one dime to the deficit.  What she didn’t tell the American public is that she introduced on the same day a separate bill that adds $245 billion to the deficit to fix reimbursement rates for doctors under Medicare.  Had Pelosi left this provision in the bill instead of tucking it away in separate legislation, her plan would have added more than $150 billion in deficit spending over the next 10 years and increased the cost of her huge bill, which ... more

In Politico yesterday, Condoleeza Rice and Madeline Albright cited a new study highlighting the importance of women in the workforce in developing societies.  From their column:

“…Equality empowers women with the freedom of choice — the universal right to determine their own destinies, careers, beliefs and family structures. When women have the power to make their own choices, the chains of poverty can be broken, families are strengthened and socially constructive values are more likely to be handed down to the young. They can finance their own businesses and contribute to their country’s economy or teach their daughters and sons to promote innovation and creativity that will lift the world’s poorest nations out of poverty.”

In the midst of all the political battles here at home, we forget the real struggle that women face in many parts of the world.  Also not recognized nearly enough here at home or abroad is the skill and bravery of the men and women in America’s armed forces ... more

Even the mainstream media is beginning to take note that female voters are taking a fresh look at the GOP. Female voters are moving our way, but not just because we are recruiting female candidates with powerful and inspirational personal stories.

We are beginning to win with women because we are talking about issues that resonate with women. Health care is personal for women. That’s why so many women I talk to are opposed to the Obama/Pelosi government health care takeover of our health care system.

For more information on our work to win the women’s vote, visit us at www.RNCwomen.com. In the meantime, take a minute to read Time for the GOP Women, The Washington Post’s take on the importance of the women’s vote. 

This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending a send-off party for our fantastic volunteers working to elect Republicans in next month's off-year elections. These are the people — probably just like you— who give so much of their time going door-to-door and calling their neighbors to help us elect Republicans.

I said words of encouragement to let them know they are making a real difference, that what they are doing matters, but I'm afraid my words could never match the way they inspire me.

These volunteers gave me a tremendous sense of energy.  They showed me once again that the tide has turned.  They showed me that we are winning in the battle of ideas.  I've seen this same electricity every time I've had the opportunity to get outside the Washington beltway.

Working with these volunteers made me feel at home.  All of us, from volunteers on the ground, to the folks working at RNC Headquarters, are in this together.  I mean that.

Chairman Steele has made it clear that this ... more