Not even heels will save the
GOPosaurs on this one
First things first: It was the Republican Party—specifically their 2012 presidential candidates—that created the birth control controversy. Together with the Catholic bishops, they were the ones to make a big deal about the Obama administration's decision to require insurers to treat birth control like all other preventive forms of health care. Even though the rule did not apply to religious institutions, they made a big deal about it, trying to turn a basic issue of preventive health into a battle royale over religious liberty.
As we all know, Americans didn't see it that way. They saw it as a Republican attempt to restrict access to birth control, which it was. They saw it as government intruding into something that should have been private, which it was. And according to a new Gallup poll, this wasn't a debate most Americans wanted to have.
But now that Republicans created the debate, it turns out the people who care the most about it are people who disagree with what the Republicans tried to do. Just 40 percent of Republicans listed birth control policy as a high priority. Meanwhile, just 57 percent of Democrats did. And they do not like where the Republicans wanted to take America.
Among Democrats, just one percent agree with Mitt Romney on birth control. Yes, you read that right. One percent! Forty-three percent disagreed. (The rest don't know enough about the issue.)
Despite getting whipped by a 43:1 ratio, it's not like Romney's position excited Republicans or independents. Just 20 percent and 11 percent agreed with him on the issue, respectively.
So, congratulations, Republicans. You made a big deal about an issue that most people didn't think should be a topic for debate, you managed to win over just about nobody who wasn't already a Republican, and in the process you managed to piss off a ton of Democrats along with a fair number of independents. Good work!
