If there's one thing we've learned about messaging, its that it needs to be simple. Explanations cause eyes to gloss over. How do we put the Republicans on the defensive in the house, when they have a majority? The answer has been waiting to come out for 30 years.
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
That is nearly the entirety of the ERA. At its full length, even if it were double spaced with an extra large font it barely tops a third of a page, look:
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
We can get the Senate to pass it, probably with some Republican support. Get a couple legislatures to start rumbling about it and Boehner has to either justify looking bad or bend over and allow us to drive the agenda in the house. Either way its a win, and a quality one.
The Equal Rights Amendment has strength in its simplicity, a strength that allows it not to just be a winning issue for us but also one that actively works against the other side to weaken them. The time has surely come to dust this amendment off and get it in place.