When Stephen Miller showed up for a little weekend punditry with a bonus strip of fuzz atop his shiny head, the message was clear: My lady troubles aren't anything a little dash of hair can't fix!
And so goes the Republican approach to winning women back after they lost the demographic by a whopping 19 points in the midterms nationwide. For a little historical perspective, George W. Bush only lost the female vote in 2004 by 3 points. Even with Mitt Romney's lackluster showing in 2012, he still only lost women by 11 points.
Now the GOP's incoming freshman class includes a grand total of four women while the Democrats are welcoming 38 new female lawmakers into their ranks. But Republicans aren’t fretting, writes Jennifer Rubin.
The Post reports that when Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) decided to start an effort to recruit more women, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) — who edged in ahead of Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) to lead the National Republican Congressional Committee — gave her the cold shoulder. (“If that’s what Elise wants to do, then that’s her call, her right. ... But I think that’s a mistake," he said. "It shouldn’t be just based on looking for a specific set of ingredients — gender, race, religion — and then we’re going to play in the primary.”) [...]
The Republican Party’s nostalgia for the 1950s, its continual appeal to male grievance (“a very scary time for men in America”) and its anachronistic view of women (John F. Kelly sounded like he was from another century — the 17th, perhaps — when he declared women used to be “sacred”) sends a consistent message to women that they should be seen not heard, and preferably not seen at all in the workplace.
Indeed—and not very many women will be seen in the GOP's workplace come January. But Republicans aren't that worried about it. Like Stephen Miller's magical makeover, perhaps they can just spit shine their shoes, smile real nice, sprinkle a little fairy dust and female voters will once again fall under their spell.