Politico Examines Diminishing Role Of Women In GOP

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Abortion
Article Date: 11 Nov 2009 - 4:00 PST

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The growing divide in the Republican Party between its staunchly conservative members and its smaller pool of moderate members has "clear gender undertones," Politico reports. The events of the recent special election in New York's 23rd District -- in which party leaders pushed social moderate Dede Scozzafava out of the congressional race in favor of conservative Doug Hoffman -- have raised new questions "about the GOP's ability to recruit, elect and even tolerate the sort of moderate women who used to be part of its ruling mainstream." Scozzafava went on to endorse Democratic candidate Bill Owens, who won the seat. Female voters helped the Republican Party score notable victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections, but the outcome of the New York special election "offer[s] harbingers of serious trouble ahead with the largest swing voter bloc in the country -- women," Politico reports.

Although the National Republican Congressional Committee contributed nearly $1 million to Scozzafava's campaign, she drew the criticism of several prominent conservatives, including former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, for her support of abortion rights and gay marriage. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said, "The case in the (23rd District) is a terrific example of what happens when you have a strong, moderate Republican woman on the ticket," adding, "She struggled because the stalwarts of the party turned against her."

According to Politico, some Democrats believe that the Republican Party rejects all but the most conservative women. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said, "This is a party that doesn't respect women, a party that doesn't believe women are equal to men." She added, "I don't think they attract women to their party. I think they repulse women."

Some Democrats also cited the contentious debate on the House health reform bill (HR 3962) last week as a sign of growing discord. On Saturday, as Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) attempted to deliver a speech in support of abortion rights, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) frequently interrupted her by citing parliamentary rules. On Friday, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) suggested that insurers were right to consider gender a "pre-existing condition" and compared women to smokers because both groups have higher treatment costs.

According to Politico, there currently are 17 female House members, and 13 Republican women have been recruited to challenge Democratic incumbents for their seats in 2010. If they all won, there would be only 30 Republican women in the House, about half of the current number of Democratic women in the chamber. Former Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), who was chair of the House Republican Conference from 2003 to 2007, said, "It's unfortunate," adding, "Look at what's happened in New England. We've lost virtually all of our seats there because the base of the party doesn't take kindly to moderates" (Shiner/Thrush, Politico, 11/9).

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