Republicans are scared. And they should be.
We've seen report after report that Republican women are saying they won't vote for Republicans in the election if the party doesn't stop attacking women's basic health care.
As Markos wrote this week, polls continue to show that Republicans are looking at a massive gender gap in this year's election.
Even some Republicans are starting to call on their party to lay off the ladies. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John McCain—all of whom voted for the Blunt amendment to allow employers to veto health insurance for women's basic health care—have all since expressed concern about their party's constant assault on women's basic health care. (Too bad they weren't concerned before they voted with their party.)
It's not as if these senators have seen the light and are now supporters of women's rights. But they've seen the writing on the wall, and they know that by screwing over women, Republicans are really screwing over themselves.
Meanwhile, the National Republican Committee is so terrified of the backlash it will inevitably face this year that it's trying to Karl Rove its way out of its self-inflicted mess with the "I know you are but what am I" strategy. The RNC released a laughably bad ad attacking President Obama for waging a war on women because of, um, Bill Maher and stuff so there shut up. Others, like Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, are trying to make it all go away by insisting that the War on Women is nothing but "political theater for the Democrats."
And then there was this remarkable speech from Republican—yes, Republican—Rep. Richard Hanna at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment in New York this week:
"I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault," he told the crowd of mostly women. "I'll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side -- my side -- has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can't succeed without your help." [...]
"This is a dogfight, it's a fistfight, and you have all the cards," he said. "I can only tell you to get out there and use them. Tell the other women, the other 51 percent of the population, to kick in a few of their bucks. Make it matter, get out there, get on TV, advertise, talk about this. The fact that you want [the ERA] is evidence that you deserve it and you need it."
He's right. The best way to stop the Republican Party from winning its war is to kick their sorry, woman-hating asses out of office, and, even better, to replace them with more, better women at the federal and state level.
Like in Wisconsin, a state that has been particularly brutal in its war on women, where Republicans are actually trying to pass a law that would equate single motherhood with child abuse. They're even claiming that women in abusive relationships should focus on the positive and "get back to why they got married in the first place" because "it might help" them to stay in their abusive relationships. You know, for the kids.
This is the state where even a State Supreme Court justice feels free to physically assault a female colleague because, well, she just made him so gosh darned angry that he couldn't resist his "reflex" to choke her.
So here are this week's marching orders: Let's follow Rep. Richard Hanna's advice and kick in a few of our bucks to elect more, better women who will fight for us and against the Republican War on Women:
If we can elect more, better women to the halls of power throughout this country, we can stop the Republicans' war and start making women's lives better. And that's why Republicans are scared. And they should be.
This week’s good, bad and ugly below the fold.
Now go forth, sluts, and raise hell.