That’s the takeaway from a new report commissioned by Karl Rove and other right-wing groups called “Republicans and Women Voters: Huge Challenges, Real Opportunities.” The report is derived from eight focus groups of women around the country following the GOP’s multiple failed attempts to reach out to women – including a “how to talk to women” seminar for elected officials and Congressional staffers – and close the widening gender gap.
According to the findings, female voters view the Republican Party as “intolerant,” “lacking in compassion,” and “stuck in the past” – with the Party faring “especially poorly” among women in the Midwest.
Unsurprisingly, women oppose restrictions on health care access and support affordable health care and pay equity protections; in fact, the focus groups found that women “believe that ‘enforcing equal pay for equal work’ is the policy that would ‘help women the most.’”
The report also found that women who say they care most about the economy, healthcare, education, and jobs vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, with Democrats holding a 35-point advantage with female voters who care about jobs – bad news for an embattled governor who ran on a central campaign promise to create 250,000 new jobs and instead has dropped Wisconsin to dead last in the Midwest on job growth.
“Ninety-four years after the fact, it’s great that Scott Walker and his Republican Party finally got the memo that women can vote now, but no focus groups or disingenuous outreach efforts will undo the damage that’s been done by their repeated attempts to roll back the clock on women’s rights,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Melissa Baldauff said Tuesday. “This report just reinforces that Walker doesn’t understand that issues central to women’s ability to fully participate in society don’t only affect women – pay equity, jobs, reproductive healthcare, and education are family issues and economic issues.”
