GOP Discovers That, Indeed, Women Do Vote, But Not For Them, Sends Flowers

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Long before Mitt Romney was the 2012 GOP candidate, Republicans heard everywhere that their message on many women’s issues was a bit off key. Outside Shadow Land where they live, others went a bit further, labeling the GOP-inspired war on women as strident, loud, obnoxious, misogynistic, stupid, uninformed, uneducated, domineering, prosecutorial, loopy, disgusting, foolish, self-defeating, whiny, patronizing, presumptuous, self-centered, pathological, surreal, harmful to families and men themselves. Other peppy words and phrases were offered, and protests raged. 1

Then came, on November 6, 2012, the ultimate verdict on all this rage against women. The war on women, while not concluded by any means, won its Gettysburg, so to speak. Is this the high water mark of the current manifestation of Über Man?

Worse than their raging, of course, was the frenetic pace of their dangerous legislation. Equally bad, as well, was their energetic financial support for rabid and stunningly stupid candidates for offices everywhere, from whistle stops to our nation’s capital.

Ah, yes, the verdict . . .

Well, to put it mildly, the GOP took a beating last Tuesday, nationall and locally. Congressloons everywhere fell far short of their goals. How short? Shorter than a wingnut’s attention span. Across the map, absurd Republican candidates fell:

  • Congressloon Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin in Missouri, lost;2;
  • Indiana Treasurer & Tea Party favorite Richard “God Willed It” Mourdock, lost3;
  • Wisconsin State Rep. Roger “Some Girls Rape Easy” Rivard, lost 4;
  • Pennsylvania’s Tom “In A Father’s Position” Smith, lost5; and – woe is them –
  • Romney/Ryan, lost. Big, despite their protestations otherwise.

Uh huh Uh huh

Republicans – even many women among them – often forget (1) that women are permitted to vote without male supervision, and (2) so-called women’s issues are also, in many ways, men’s issues, if not physiologically, then philosophically, ethically, and politically.  

Back in March 2012, during the GOP primary season, I wrote,

 “Given the way in which the loons on the campaign trail and in Congress have paraded their enmity towards women, in general, and their health, in particular, it is likely that women of all ages will be energized to vote in greater percentages in November 2012.” See,  Charting The GOP Dilemma — Women Vote & There’s A Whole Bunch Of ‘Em!

 Here’s my summary chart  from that post of voting by gender in the 2008 election:


And here’s a  February 13th Pew Research Center’s election 2012 forecast:

The actual election results were pretty close to that March 2012 projection, 55% of women voted for Obama, one point below his 2008 results. Interestingly too,  a higher percentage of  all eligible women voters, 53%, actually voted, beating men by 6%,  and that’s a significant difference.6

Finally, consider this: Hispanic voters are the fastest growing segment of our population.7 In the past election, for the first time, Hispanic voters comprised 10% of the voting public. And, à propos of this post topic, according to CNN exit polls, Hispanic women voted for President Obama by a 76% to 24% margin. This result, in a rapidly growing population . . . 76% to 24% . . . yet another nail in the presently constituted GOP.8

Keep those nails coming. 

_____________________________________

  1. The RNC’s Final Insult to Women, The Nation, Ben Adler, Sept. 2, 2012.
  2. Todd Akin: ‘Legitimate rape’ victims rarely get pregnant, David Cohen, POLITICO, August 20, 2012.
  3. Joe Donnelly triumphs over Richard Mourdock in Indiana Senate race, Kim Geiger, LA Times, Politics Now, Nov. 6, 2012. During the campaign Mourdock also said “Bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view.” Indiana, you dodged a bullet.
  4. Roger Rivard Loses Reelection To Wisconsin Assembly After Saying ‘Some Girls Rape Easy’, Huffington Post, Amanda Terkel, Nov. 11, 2012.
  5. Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith tangled up over rape and abortion, Angela Couloumbis, Aug. 29, 2012.
  6. Here’s a pretty good summary of election 2012: Exit polls 2012: How the vote has shifted, Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2012. Also see, Gender Gap In 2012 Election Aided Obama Win, Laura Bassett, Nov. 7, 2012.
  7. Snapshot Series Número Uno — In One Chart : “Why Republicans Are Suddenly Sending Flowers To Hispanic Voters”, Michael Matthew Bloomer, Nov. 17, 2012.
  8. The Latino vote was crucial in Obama’s re-election, Emilio C. Sanchez, Nov. 7, 2012.

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Michael Matheron

From Presidents Ronald Reagan through George W. Bush, I was a senior legislative research and policy staff of the nonpartisan Library of Congress Congressional Research Service (CRS). I'm partisan here, an "aggressive progressive." I'm a contributor to The Fold and Nation of Change. Welcome to They Will Say ANYTHING! Come back often! . . . . . Michael Matheron, contact me at mjmmoose@gmail.com

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