Trolling For Women (Voters)

Another one of Barack Obama’s major constituencies is a lot shakier than it was in 2008. He won the women’s vote by a heavy margin. That’s not such a sure thing this time. His numbers fell seriously over the past few months, although it seems to have had a temporary bump since Rush Limbaugh called the Georgetown Law student a prostitute, sort of. It also seems that Rick Santorum is scaring moderate and liberal women (fairly or unfairly).

Obama sewed up the women’s vote in the 2008 election. In the affluent suburbs, replete with moderates and independents, his margin among women was thirteen percent. Without winning the women’s vote by a healthy margin, Barack Obama would not be president today. But following the election, and after three years of a pathetic economic recovery and unemployment stubbornly holding at above eight percent, the dew was off the rose. Women were turning to economic issues, and Obama was not fulfilling any his promises about reinvigorating the economy.

Among independent and moderate women, generic Republicans were pulling very close to The One in approval and disapproval polls. The slide was slow but sure. But the Democrats have gotten a temporary reprieve. Rick Santorum, Republican candidate for the nomination, has made social issues a major part of his campaign. Polls clearly indicate that this has no effect on conservative women, but is starting to have an effect among moderates and independents. They may not reject social conservatism, but they don’t want it at the top of the list, and they’re unsure that other Republican candidates don’t harbor the same views.

Then came the Obamacare birth control/abortifacient mandates. Democrats were losing ground on the religious freedom issue, so they cleverly turned it into a debate about women’s rights. In fact, Obama’s minions had started to declare the conservative and religious objections to the mandates as “a new war on women.” When the issue was brought up in the Senate as a rejection of the mandates imposed on religious institutions, the Democrats said “this is a Republican attempt to roll back long-established women’s rights.”

Failing to get a witness approved who had nothing valuable or germane to say at the hearings on the mandates, Nancy Pelosi put on her own dog and pony show in the House. Her witness was Sandra Fluke (pronounced Fluck, for some strange reason), a ditsy Georgetown Law student who was too stupid to figure out how to get free contraceptives. This Georgetown Dunce is attending a very expensive private law school, but thinks that the public and religious objectors should pay for her birth control and abortifacients. It might have died a quiet death, if not for a nasty (though accurate) comment by Rush Limbaugh.

“Aha!” said the Democrats. Our big opportunity to detour the religious freedom debate and make it all about mean white male woman-haters who want women barefoot and back in the kitchen. The fake indignation spread like wildfire. Barack Obama, who recently couldn’t take time out of his golf games to talk with the Israeli Prime Minister suddenly felt it necessary personally telephone the Georgetown “slut” to apologize for a remark that he didn’t make and which wasn’t being attributed to him. Exactly on whose behalf he made the apology is unclear. But he felt it was imperative that he console this thirty year old helpless woman whose life was being ruined by the alleged lack of free birth control.

The whole social issue, “gimme my free condoms and pills” debate has had a negative effect on independent and moderate women. The gap that was narrowing is opening again. It may just be temporary if Republican candidate Rick Santorum will pay less attention to social issues and more attention to economic issues, but so far he’s showing no sign of doing so.

The deleterious effect on the women’s vote can be demonstrated by the results of exit polls after the Ohio primary. Married women leaned toward Santorum. Unmarried women leaned toward Romney. Conservative women said that the Fluke incident had no effect whatsoever on their choice. But when men were asked the same question, there was literally no significant difference between married and unmarried men.

This controversy will probably blow over. And it’s a long time until November. But I must commend two Republican women for refusing to cower under the Democratic attacks. First of all, Ann Romney, wife of candidate Mitt Romney, made it clear that Republican women were not going to be silenced because of a manufactured issue. Defiantly, Mrs. Romney addressed her comments directly to the leader of the Obamists: “Do you know what women care about? Women care about jobs. They’re angry and they’re furious about the entitlement debt we are leaving to our children.”

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski also made a definitive statement. “I’m right along with Ann Romney. There is clearly a direction we can take as Republicans that gives confidence and assurance.” She added: “Women in Alaska are worried about what they’re paying in energy costs. They’re worried about whether or not they’ll be able to put their kids through college, whether their savings are secure.”

Now those are the real women’s issues, not whether or not a Georgetown law student is a slut or a prostitute. And of course the mainstream media have jumped on the bandwagon, touting both Fluke’s innocent helplessness and Obama’s great empathy for women who can’t afford free birth control. If the Republicans, and particularly the women Republicans, can stay on message and keep the issues revolving around a woman’s desire for economic stability in her home and at work, the Democrats’ poster girl for entitlement and government largess will fade from memory. And then Sandy Fluke can go cry on Anita Hill’s shoulder. Another attorney who couldn’t take the heat.