Democrats assume that women are single issue voters. Women voters now make up the majority of the voting population so Democrats thought this was a winning tactic. It worked among some voters for a couple of election cycles. Apparently voters have wised up now. Democrats have overplayed their line.
The War on Women was extended to peripheral issues. GOP votes down a redundant equal pay for equal work bill? War on Women! GOP votes down a minimum wage increase at the federal level? War on Women! GOP votes against federal monies going to Planned Parenthood for abortion services? War on Women!
President Obama was a big cheerleader for this nonsense. Recently, he was heard on the campaign trail to say, "The idea that my daughters wouldn't have the same opportunities as somebody’s sons." "that’s unacceptable”.
The so-called Republican "war on women" was never really a thing — and now it's not even a thing that works.It's hard to pinpoint when the canard started (sometime around 2010) — but its maiden voyage might have begun in earnest the night of February 7, 2012, during a debate in New Hampshire, when, apropos of nothing, moderator George Stephanopoulos asked the Republican candidates a complete non sequitur: Should states have the right to ban contraception? Some later speculated that Stephanopoulos might have been helping Obama concoct that narrative. Whether or not this was coordinated, he certainly seems to have contributed.The term was subsequently used as an attack on anyone who supported restrictions on abortion, or thought it inappropriate for taxpayers or employers who believe it violates their rights of conscience to be required to pay for someone else's birth control. And, for a while, the allegation seemed to have a real impact, helping defeat Republican men like 2010 Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck, who was painted as a "sexist." Other Republicans seemed to invite these attacks by talking about things such as "legitimate rape."
Wendy Davis ran as the Democratic nominee in the 2014 Texas Gubernatorial race. She was the perfect candidate for Democrats as she had filibustered a pro-life bill in the Texas Legislature in the last session. Her filibuster ultimately failed but her fifteen minutes of fame soared. She was the darling of liberal America. She even got a book deal out of it, which conveniently put the book tour at the same time as her campaign for governor.
Here is what happened on Election Day in Texas:
Exit polling for the 2014 Texas Gubernatorial race produced this breakdown between men and women voters:
| Greg Abbott | Wendy Davis | |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 66% | 33% |
| Women | 54% | 45% |
The meme, popular for the last two election cycles, no longer applies.
Accusing Republicans of hostility to contraception, for example, may work as a way of motivating marginal voters in presidential years, when they just need a little nudge to go to the polls. Not so in the midterms.The Democrats thought for sure that this was the winning story line for Wendy Davis in Texas. Why, that book of hers even told her own abortion stories. See, women. Wendy is just like you.
Except she's not. Wendy Davis did not speak for conservative women. Conservative women are not single issue voters. Looks like Democrat women aren't so much single issue voters anymore either. The myth has exploded. Independent leaning women voters aren't accepting the War on Women mantra anymore either.
All across America, Republican women were elected to office.
Good riddance, War on Women.
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