Women Prefer Obama to Romney

This has not been a great week for Republicans, on the eve of their national convention, which starts Monday in Tampa. Instead of speaking about the economy, Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan are embroiled in a debate about abortion. President Obama, only too happy to move the debate to more favorable terrain, jumped headfirst into the controversy, surely thinking about the crucial women’s vote in November. His camp doesn’t seem ready to let this opportunity go, looking at the list of women planned for the Democratic convention in early September.

The congressman that started the scandal, Todd Akin, inventor of the concept of “legitimate rape” and the supposed magical power of rape survivors to keep from getting pregnant, has since apologized. But the fact that he is standing up to Mitt Romney and refusing to abandon his senate race goes against the image of unity that the candidate hoped to present in Tampa. The adoption of a strict anti-abortion platform at the convention, without exceptions for rape or incest, comes at a bad time, even if it is consistent with recent Republican platforms.

A Very Conservative Running Mate

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can’t ignore women voters, since they represent the majority of the electorate in the United States. But abortion is not a good issue for the former governor of Massachusetts. His opinion has changed for each campaign he has run, and his declarations in favor of an exception for rape or incest has forced Paul Ryan into verbal contortions. “His [Romney’s] policy is exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. I’m comfortable with it because it’s a good step in the right direction,” he explained.

But thanks to this controversy, voters — who barely know Mitt Romney’s running mate — are discovering a candidate who is very conservative on social issues. During his 13 years in Congress, he voted without fail for all the anti-abortion laws. Paul Ryan even twice co-sponsored legislation with Todd Akin himself that restricted the definition of rape. The legislation introduced the notion of “forcible rape,” which would have led to the reduction of federal financing for Planned Parenthood, the family planning association. Interviewed on Wednesday about the definition of this new term, the congressman deflected the question.

That same evening, Barack Obama jumped at the chance to tie Akin to the Republican presidential ticket and to present Romney’s GOP as a reactionary party. “The interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology but somehow missed science class. And it’s representative of the desire to go backward rather than forward,” he said during a campaign stop in New York.

According to polls, Americans support abortion rights less and less, but an overwhelming majority do approve exceptions for rape and incest, in contradiction to the Republican platform. If he has read the latest poll from the Wall Street Journal/NBC, Mitt Romney must be worried. Only 24 percent of women support him, whereas 54 percent of women favor Barack Obama. Overall, the polls nevertheless indicate that this gap is reduced in swing states. The Republican candidate can only hope that when he gives his speech next Thursday, the Akin scandal will be forgotten; and that on November 6, the economy will be the only thing on voters’ minds, whether they are male or female.