Bloomberg
, June 12, 2011
DEMS
FRAME GOP ACTS AS ANTI-WOMEN
By Jonathan
D. Salant
Democrats
and allied groups are framing Republican moves to cut federal
spending as a war on women, an effort aimed at influencing the
2012 elections.
Support from
women voters helped propel Republican gains in the 2010 elections.
Democrats hope to reverse that next year by arguing that measures
including the Republican push to end traditional Medicare would
disproportionately affect women, who live longer than men.
Republican
efforts to repeal collective-bargaining rights for public employees
also are being characterized as anti-women. For example, 73 percent
of the American Federation of Teachers' 1.5 million members are
female.
Analysts say
the success of the Democratic message likely would increase the
party's chances of holding the White House and Senate and also
possibly winning a House majority.
"The
Republicans have handed the Democrats a gift," said Leonie
Huddy, a political science professor at Stony Brook University
in New York. "If they play it right, they have exactly the
issue that will attract women voters to them."
Concerned
over the economy, women backed Republican congressional candidates
a year ago by 49 percent to 48 percent, according to a CNN exit
poll, a break with the traditional support female voters have
provided Democrats. Four years earlier, when Democrats ended 12
years of Republican control on Capitol Hill, they received 55
percent of women's votes.
In 2008, Democratic
presidential nominee Barack Obama received the votes of 56 percent
of women compared with 49 percent of men.
Last month,
Democrat Kathy Hochul benefited from efforts to galvanize women
voters in winning a special election in New York's Republican-leaning
26th Congressional District. Emily's List, which supports female
Democrats who back abortion rights, and Planned Parenthood helped
Ms. Hochul make the Republican plan to end traditional Medicare
the centerpiece of her campaign.
"Women
rightfully feel more economically vulnerable," said Debbie
Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics
at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute in New Brunswick, N.J.
"They're aligning themselves with the political party they
believe is more supportive of maintaining that social safety net."
The House
Republican budget bill passed in April, proposed by Rep. Paul
Ryan of Wisconsin, would end traditional Medicare for anyone turning
65 in 2022 and later. Instead, future seniors would receive subsidies
to buy private insurance. The Congressional Budget Office estimated
that most seniors would pay more for health care under Mr. Ryan's
plan.
A May 25-30
poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found
just 32 percent of women -- and 25 percent of women 50 and older
-- supporting Mr. Ryan's plan. Among men, 39 percent supported
it, as did 33 percent of those 50 and older. The survey of 1,509
adults had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Emily's List
cited the Medicare plan as it singled out nine House Republican
freshmen as its first targets next year, months earlier than in
the last election. They are Paul Gosar of Arizona, Allen West
of Florida, Robert Dold and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Chip Cravaack
of Minnesota, Joe Heck of Nevada, Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass
of New Hampshire and Steve Stivers of Ohio.
NARAL Pro-Choice
America, a Washington-based group that supports abortion rights,
has been meeting with prospective candidates it might back and
updating its voter guide on women's issues earlier than usual.
To help increase
turnout next year among women likely to support her party, Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has created a website and Facebook
page that cite Medicare and other budget cuts Republicans have
proposed as reasons for women to get involved in politics.
Some women
"don't understand or feel politics is relevant to them,"
Ms. Gillibrand said. "Until we put all the issues on the
table, it's going to be difficult to get them off the sidelines."
Issues that
have spurred the heightened political activity by Democratic-leaning
women's groups include the vote in April by the Republican-controlled
House to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood because
it offers abortions in some locations. The organization focuses
on providing health services for women, including cancer screenings.
Republican
lawmakers also have proposed funding cuts for the Women, Infants
and Children nutrition program that would leave up to 475,000
low-income recipients of the aid without federal help, according
to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington-based
research group.
Republicans
say the budget cuts are necessary to shrink the deficit and improve
the economy, as they pledged to do in the 2010 campaign. They
express confidence that public concern over these issues will
undercut the Democratic pitch to women voters.
"This
is exactly the place Democrats always go when they realize they're
losing the message game and become desperate," said Joanna
Burgos, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional
Committee. "Unfortunately for them, Americans know that Republicans
were the ones who shifted the debate in Washington to one of cutting
spending and growing the economy."
Republican-allied
women's groups are helping make the party's case. The Washington-based
Susan B. Anthony List, which opposes abortion and spent $1.8 million
last year in support of Republican congressional candidates, ran
radio ads in April against Democratic senators who they criticized
for supporting Planned Parenthood.
The Democratic-leaning
women's groups say their arguments are making headway.
An online
Planned Parenthood petition opposing the push to cut the group's
funding garnered 810,000 names, expanding the group's mailing
list by more than 400,000, said spokesman Tait Sye. The group's
Facebook fans grew to 173,000 in May from 100,000 in January.
Emily's List
collected 80,000 email addresses on two websites it set up to
oppose Republican proposals.
"Republicans
are waging war against the very things that keep women and their
families thriving," said Jess McIntosh, a spokeswoman for
Emily's List. "That is a huge motivator for women to run
and for women voters to turn out."
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