GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer, allegedly Mitch McConnell's top recruit to take on Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in Northa Dakota next year, is really, really not helping his cause. During a "radio town hall" Wednesday morning, Cramer decided what the world truly needs is more men commenting on how their women colleagues dress professionally:
"But by the way, did you notice how poorly several of them were dressed as well? It is a syndrome. There is no question, there is a disease associated with the notion that a bunch of women would wear bad-looking white pantsuits in solidarity with Hillary Clinton to celebrate her loss. You cannot get that weird."
Ah. So not only are their sartorial choices and political preferences in question, their very mental health is as well. Women love being talked about in this manner, of course, which is why Cramer apologized so fulsomely later that same day. Oh wait, just kidding:
"But at the same time, they looked silly. I don't buy their argument that it was a celebration of suffrage. I think they should be celebrating the fact that there were women members of Congress sitting in a joint session, listening to the President of the United States on equal footing as a co-equal branch—and sort of get over this notion that somehow we have to be offended all the time."
See, little ladies? You should be just thrilled that, not even a hundred years after you were so generously given the right to vote, we're now allowing you to sit alongside us men on the floor of Congress to listen to a speech! So stop with your "silly" protests and just behave yourselves already.
It looks like Republicans are hell-bent on repeating their mistakes from 2012, when they nominated then-Rep. Rick Berg, Cramer's predecessor, to run against Heitkamp. Berg turned out to be spectacularly unlikeable, and the way his campaign approached women was a key factor.
Berg's most notable flop was a stilted ad he ran featuring four older women sitting at a diner talking made-up smack about Heitkamp. The spot (unfortunately no longer online) was bitingly derided as a "senior citizen remake of Mean Girls," and the actors' cattiness toward the sunny and pleasant Heitkamp made Berg look sullen and venomous. In a state that prides itself on being "North Dakota nice," Berg wound up looking anything but—and Cramer's managing to do the exact same thing.
But if there’s one Republican who probably won’t be bothered by Cramer’s definition of women’s outreach, it’s Donald Trump. Indeed, Cramer claims that Trump has already promised to support him if he challenges Heitkamp. Cramer also says a Senate bid is “not a top-of-the-mind issue for me right now, and it won't be for several months.” After hearing some of the stuff that does seem to be at the top of Cramer’s mind, we can believe that.