I had the opportunity to spend time with a very good friend of mine tonight and naturally the conversation turned to the GOP clownshow quickly because, well, I turned it there as soon a I could. He's very active in local politics and he's a Democratic delegate for our fine state, and I couldn't wait to get his take on GOP's war on women.
First, I asked him what the bloody hell was going on because how does this strategy make any sense?!
No matter how much I read about it and think about it, I can't think of any reason why. But I know there must be, and I know that from the GOP's perspective it must be a vital one indeed. Well, I know the answer in general...when white men in power are feeling threatened and insecure (so basically every day all the time) they exert their control over women, who are the carriers of their seed and in a broader sense, culture. Of course a "culture war" in America is going to be centralized on women, the female body is always politicized. But that's not the thought process going on with the GOP. Somebody, somewhere, has a far more concrete reason.
My friend's theory of what that concrete reason is actually made my blood run cold.
"They want to neutralize the vote. They don't care about winning voters, they want to make them feel so angry and disenfranchised that they choose to stay home and not participate in such a corrupt system."
And of course that instantly made sense to me because a low voter turnout is traditionally very good news for the GOP. And, I admit, I am very familiar with that feeling. Bullies get away with it because they can force their victims to remain silent. Abusers get away with it because they can force their victims to remain silent. So why not flex those muscles and be so grotesque about it, so inhumane, that the victim falls into the expected victim role and remain silent?
It's ON: The GOP and Democrats Fight Over Women points out:
Eight months before Election Day, women have become arguably the most sought-after voting group in an election year where the presidency and control of Congress are at stake. Females comprise a majority of voters in a typical presidential election year.
Women are a crucial voting group for Obama, particularly in the suburbs of big cities like Denver and Detroit. He would not be president today had he not beaten Republican John McCain by 13 points among women four years ago.
On the bright side for the GOP that's not a problem if all the bitches stay home in 2012!
But...
"Won't that plan backfire? I mean, this is pissing off a lot of people and really making some big waves."
"Sure, but it's not going to have any impact in November," he pointed out with a note of apology in his voice. "Most likely, it'll help the GOP. They like to pick fights and then when everybody is good and riled up, they can ride in and act like they're the saviors. Besides, women don't vote as much as men, and most of the women who do vote are going to vote with their husbands." I must have looked pretty disappointed by this analysis, because he added, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound so jaded."
But...
He wasn't being jaded. More like realistic.
I thought about the laws designed to actively harm women and their health. I thought about the laws designed to stop minorities from voting (using the age-old trick of disenfranchising anybody who doesn't "own property." Folks who can't afford a car don't have driver's licenses. Like my husband). I thought about how Romney only cares about the bottom line and Santorum only cares about other people's sex lives, and I have to admit, I was depressed.
Then my friend added the following. "They'll choose a woman to be the VP. They won't make the same mistake as Palin, but I don't know, maybe Bachmann?"
And that's when I thought I'd have a stroke. Jesus, could you imagine?
But like everything else we discussed, it made a twisted sort of bizarro world sense. They get to pander to their white evangelical base, making that female demographic more likely to show up and vote which may not result in any sort of white house win, but will result in down ticket votes. Also, and probably more importantly, it'll give the GOP and FOX a chance to play the victim card when whatever scary airhead they select is at all maligned in the press. Then the debate is no longer about the rights and health of all female citizens, but the hurt feelings and special status of one carefully selected woman (who will absolutely fall into lockstep with the general anti-woman agenda).
This scares me. Maybe even more than the very realistic notion that when push comes to shove, the women won't show up to defend themselves and protect their daughters and sisters. Hell, I don't even mean Bachmann scares me (though she does). It scares me that the GOP could easily leverage this whole bullying, arrogant, and misogynistic (and even misanthropic) episode into a winning frame work for them by November.
But...
Perhaps it won't be that easy for them this time around. Because in order to pander this hard to the misogynistic element of society, they're going to have to make sacrifices. Which includes selecting a woman who is intelligent, well-read, well-spoken, with the drive, determination, and attitude to get work done. Those women are "Bitches" or "sluts" or most charmingly, "cunts." And once you've employed those labels for any woman who isn't meekly following the man's lead (in and out of the bedroom), you can't change your mind. You can't select a woman the mainstream will find attractive.
And perhaps it won't be that easy to disenfranchise, discourage, or neutralize women in this election.
Because the same grassroots, get-out-the-vote machine that the Obama campaign built in 2008 will be used in 2012 and we all know that we need to get women and minorities to the polls.
Because my socially conservative, uninterested mother who doesn't vote already because "what difference does it make?" immediately asked me what she could do when I told her what was going on. I told her to vote this year.
Because women who could be effectively silenced before, now have the ability to raise awareness, raise money, raise interest, raise hope in as little as 144 characters.
Because I sat in a diner at 3 AM and watched a mature lesbian and a 19 year old college student meet for the first time and almost immediately bond over their shared outrage over the war on women. I do believe conversations like that are happening all over the nation.
Despite my great respect for my friend's intelligence and political acumen, I believe he's mistaken. I believe this is one of those all-too-rare but brilliant moments in history when the bully will not win, and the victims will not be cowed into silence. We have the knowledge, the means, and the motivation to stand up and decide together that we aren't gonna take it, no!, we ain't gonna take it anymore. I live in a blood red state that will definitely go to Romney (even if he isn't the GOP nominee!) but I'll do as I did in 2008 and volunteer and work hard because no matter who wins this state's electoral votes, women can still show the GOP the middle finger (figuratively and literally).