Republicans Push Women into the Arms of Obama

Once more, the Republicans missed a chance to shut up. By taking part in an absurd debate against contraception coverage, the Republicans have managed to scare off women. They have very short political memories: They forgot that they regained control of the House of Representatives in November 2010, and it was thanks to the votes of American women. According to the latest opinion polls, these women are now migrating to the Democratic Party, where they are historically the most loyal supporters.

When The Wall Street Journal asked women voters [last summer] which party should control Congress, 46 percent of those polled supported Democrats and 42 percent were for Republicans.

Today, according to a survey conducted by a half-Republican, half-Democratic firm, 51 percent of women favored the current party, and 36 percent favored the GOP — a gap of 15 points.

Meanwhile, the Republicans have managed to spark anger among women by opposing insurance coverage for contraceptives (in a country with the world record for teenage pregnancies), by claiming that contraception led to “doing things” (contraception gives people ideas…) and that the women who use them are women of ill repute.

Republican strategists are starting to kick themselves. They are realizing — a little too late — that they should have stayed focused on the economy and the topic of purchasing power. But even then, the Republicans have to face an economy that shows signs of recovering with very good figures of job creation last month: 227,000 jobs created and the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama is trying to score points with women voters, the group that is essential for winning the elections next November and which makes up 53 percent of voters.

In 2008, Obama won 56 percent of their votes, but they abandoned the Democrats in 2010. This Monday, the president’s team will begin to mobilize these voters when they start a campaign by sending out mailings to one million women in 12 key states. During the months leading up to the elections, the Obama camp will implement actions to remind everyone of all that the president has done in the field of health, notably his health insurance reform. As feminists have expressed their feelings toward the Obama presidency, and events led to attacks against Planned Parenthood in certain states like Texas or Virginia, or the lewd and inflammatory comments by Rush Limbaugh against a Georgetown University student who testified before a Congressional committee on the topic of free mandated contraceptives, other women have suddenly woken up. We will likely remember this as the moment when the Republicans lost the election.