Most important takeaway from the Politico Ron Barber story
Posted by: Donna
There are times when I can barely eke out two posts in a week and then there are days like today where I do more than one.
Politico broke a story today about last week’s CD 8 special election that is noteworthy not only from a pure gossip angle but also for its electoral implications for Dems, should they choose to pay attention. According to Barber’s camp, a staffer for Martha McSally (who is likely to be Barber’s challenger in November) passed some tips to a Barber aide they felt would be useful in defeating Jesse Kelly. Now, under most circumstances I regard such advice under the following guideline: Never take advice from someone who wants you to lose. And, certainly, Martha McSally wants to beat Barber in the general election. However, she needed for Kelly to lose in order to assure her place in the next election so I can see where an exception to the guideline would be warranted. Here’s the advice McSally’s people gave to Barber, which they said was based on polling:
Stone offered the Barber staffer his business card, which on the back had the following hand-written suggestions: Focus on social issues during the race’s final days in order to win the support of still-undecided independent and Republican women. Stone also told the Barber aide, according to her written recollection of the conversation, “We really want to see you win,” adding: “To be honest, I still want a job, so really go after those social issues, particularly abortion, with women who haven’t voted yet.”
See, Democrats? Republicans know they are vulnerable on reproductive issues, despite the constant bleating how “the majority of Americans say they’re pro-life neener neener!” Americans don’t like abortion (duh) but most of them don’t want women to be jailed or to die in the ER. The Barber campaign didn’t take Stone’s advice, which was fine because Kelly was vulnerable on so many other fronts but I think Democrats need to take heed of this in general and stop being so afraid to target voters, especially female ones, with pro-choice messages that remind them in no uncertain terms of the truly monstrous intentions of anti-choice social conservatives.
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I think it’s time for Republican women to cut the BS and own up to the fact their handsitting and passivity on womens issues in their own party has caused harm not only to other womens rights but their own, their daughters, grandaughters etc. These are not merely campaign issues but actual damage to future generations of all females rights.
Time to ask yourselves GOP women, with no ideology, religious philosophy, economics, etc.
Is my political party doing more harm than good for all women?
The problem is that a lot of Republican women aren’t passive bystanders to the anti-choice stuff but rather active and enthusiastic participants in it. Debbie Lesko et al are quite eager to deprive other women of sexual and economic agency. Their own use of birth control and abortions are “different”, you see.
I agree with your point, but I was aiming more at the average female GOP voter.
Take the Republican push to defund Planned Parenthood. They go along because of the abortion issue, but don’t speak up about PP being the best, if not only medical care a large number of women will receive. They’re causing harm to other women with their going along with a narrower party focus.
By joining or not questioning the Leskos of their own party they are allowing a political party to set state ordered, issue specific medical policy. These precedents of gender specific regulations open the door for future rights restrictions.
I truly believe the Republican Party does have a desire to reduce the rights of all women that is being disguised as social and religious “freedoms” and for whatever reason GOP women are letting it happen.
I think T.C. is right no target. The ‘enthusiastic participants’ are highly partisan Republicans whose vote is already in the bag (just like ours is.)
So if we ignore them and ignore us, the people who are left (especially women) recognize that throughout history men have used the fact that women can get pregnant as a means of control. Control a woman’s body, then they control her. That’s why it is so crucial for Democratic candidates to remind undecided (and possibly Republican female) voters of what is at stake, especially given the recent tilt of the Supreme Court and their collective age.