Dems 'war on women' strategy declared dead

By Paul Bremmer

Politichicks Ann-Marie Murrell, Morgan Brittany and Gina Loudon

By Paul Bremmer

With the 2014 midterm elections giving the Republican Party control of the Senate and strengthening its hold on the House of Representatives, three female conservative leaders are pointing to polling data suggesting the touted Democrat "war on women" strategy is officially dead.

Actress Morgan Brittany, Dr. Gina Loudon and Ann-Marie Murrell all told WND the election permanently discredited the Democratic Party campaign of painting the Republicans as out of touch with women.

A Washington Post exit poll breaking down the national House vote found females voted overall 51 percent for Democrats and 47 percent for Republicans. However, as Brittany noted, married women went 54 percent for the Republicans and 44 percent for Democrats versus 60 percent for Democrats and 38 percent for Republicans for non-married women.

Brittany told WND: "'The war on women' is dead. It's over, it was phony to begin with and it was a message that did not resonate with a large majority of American women. "

She noted that in exit polls, "more married women voted Republican and the message was loud and clear."

"National security, the economy and healthcare trumped $10 birth control, abortion and pay inequality," she said.

"Obviously the Democrat message was not enough to motivate liberal women to get out and vote because they had heard it all before and the fear factor was gone. The Democrats failed because they insulted the intelligence of their own voters. Instead of presenting them with a clear, concise agenda focusing on what women REALLY want, they dragged out the old playbook and women turned a deaf ear.

Brittany said both parties need to understand that "women are just as concerned about the direction this country is taking as men are."

"The Republicans knew that women were looking for leadership, strength, national security, a workable health care option and a better life for their children," she said. "The Democrats came up empty on all of those issues and they rightfully lost their power."

Murrell, who co-authored the recently released "What Women (Really) Want" with her PolitiChicks colleagues Brittany and Loudon, told WND the Democrats wouldn't abandon the "war on women" rhetoric so easily.

She pointed out that the morning after the election, NOW President Terry O’Neil sent out a rallying email to feminist supporters.

Murrell asked: "Did NOW blame Barack Obama’s failed national and foreign policies, and the fact that according to multiple polls the majority of women (both right and left) don't feel 'safe' anymore? Did they blame Obama's failed economic policies, or the non-transparency and divisiveness of his administration?

"Well of course not. They are blaming Republican messaging."

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O’Neil wrote in the email: "Republicans did all they could to soften their anti-woman image with slick ads and rehearsed talking point. The question now is whether the GOP will support policies women voters actually want."

Murrell responded to the assertion, telling WND, "If NOW is saying what women really want is for the GOP to protect women against the invasion of ISIS, ensure all Americans are treated equally, and protect our borders, then yes, the GOP will absolutely support policies women want. If they mean will the GOP allow the IRS to continue targeting innocent citizens, demand private businesses pay for abortions, or any other nonsense, NOW will definitely be disappointed."

O'Neil also wrote in her email: "In the wake of aggressive right-wing voter suppression tactics and expenditures of hundreds of millions of dollars, women's rights supporters lost their majority in the U.S. Senate yesterday."

Murrell noted left-leaning magazines have tried to paint Republicans as anything but friends of women.

"Prior to last night's elections," she said, "Cosmopolitan magazine (who backed at least 10 Democrat candidates) wrote an extremely degrading piece claiming the only women who are (stupid) enough to vote Republican are white married women who don't have college degrees. Unfortunately exit polls proved the opposite, showing 56 percent of white Republican women voters were college graduates, compared to 42 percent Democrat. We'll wait patiently for Cosmo's retraction."

Murrell predicted the Democrats and left-leaning groups will spend the next few months trying to figure out ways to blame the Tuesday losses on anything except the policies they promote that convinced individuals – and women – to vote Republican.

"They will try to un-do whatever messaging worked for the GOP, from the phony war on women to the fact that the majority of people don't feel safe under Democrat leadership," she said.

"And you've got to hand it to the left – for months, Democrat strategists have been preparing for 'today,' planning every election scenario that could possibly happen. In our book 'What Women (Really) Want,' we explain that in order for the GOP to stay on top we've got to be as proactive as Democrats and work continuously – year-round – on elections. Democrats never rest on their victories or their losses and at this moment, they are not only working on the 2016 elections but also 2020. Are we?"

Loudon told WND the exit polling by the Washington Post clearly shows that economic security and illegal immigration were motivating issues for voters.

"The real test comes now for the GOP," she said.

"The first words out of the mainstream media pundits' mouths this morning was not 'how did the Democrats fail women' but rather 'will the GOP now represent what women really want?'" she noted.

Loudon said: "The combined definitive defeats of Wendy Davis (Texas), Sandra Fluke (California), Mark Udall (Colorado) and others speak specifically to the failed messaging and policy of Democrats where women are concerned. All of them campaigned exclusively on the so-called 'War on Women' that Democrats said was paramount in the minds of women. We called that out in our book, 'What Women (Really) Want,' and we were maligned in the media for saying that birth control and abortion were not winning issues, and that national security and economic security were the winning issues. Yesterday proved that women and men were willing to voice their support for security for their families – both economic and national."

She told WND women aren't worried that their access to birth control or abortion are going away.

"Women are worried that their country is being invaded by those who would like to control women in horrific ways," Loudon said.

The test for the GOP will be inaction versus action, she noted.

"Voters are going to expect swift action to stabilize the economy, and secure borders. Voters will expect relief at the gas pump, in the job market, and in their relationship with the government that is supposed to work for them. In light of the administration's failed (or lacking) efforts on Benghazi, Fast and Furious, the IRS scandal, the TSA mishaps, the NSA, and all the rest, voters are going to want to see a plan for real progress in those arenas. Additionally, GOP leaders will need to address Obamacare."

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