Last Tuesday, Elise Stefanik of New York became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Mia Love, a female African-American, was elected to represent Utah’s fourth congressional district. Shelley Capito became West Virginia’s first female senator, and in the same state, Saira Blair, an 18-year-old college student, was elected to the state’s House of Delegates. Nikki Haley, Mary Fallin and Susana Martinez all defeated white men in their campaigns to remain the governors of their respective states of South Carolina, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
What do all these women have in common? Well, every single one of them won their elections running as a Republican. The party that is allegedly waging a war on women, remember? The same party whose objections to abortion and birth control mandates are viewed by liberals as ruthless attacks on women? The party that allegedly only includes white men and is apparently out of touch with women? Remember that party?
It’s probably a good thing if you don’t remember, because if last week’s midterm elections are a sign of anything, it’s that the Democrats’ “War on Women” ploy is slowly running out of steam.
In addition to the aforementioned examples of female Republicans who won their elections, there are other noteworthy results from last Tuesday. To start, the 114th Congress, which begins in January of next year, will include a record-number of pro-life Republican women.
In Texas, Democrat Wendy Davis, spent 11 hours attacking Texas’s proposed pro-life laws in a state legislative session last summer as a state senator. She was subsequently named a champion for women’s rights by liberals across the country, reportedly lost the female vote in last Tuesday’s state governor race (which she also lost overall) by at least 5 points. Her empty state senate seat was taken over by a female Tea-Party activist.
In Colorado, Democrat Senator Mark Udall talked about abortion and birth control in his campaign so much that he was nicknamed Mark Uterus. Udall, a popular pick to win, ended up losing his re-election bid to Cory Gardner, a dark horse Republican. The Democrats’ radical abortion platform, which allows abortion up to birth in any circumstance, is too extreme and out of touch with the views of most Americans.
Finally, just for good measure, Democrat Sandra Fluke, the attorney who in 2012 demanded religious institutions pay for birth control (thus becoming a liberal hero), lost her California state senate race by 22 points to a male Democratic challenger.
Hopefully liberals can realize from these results that fabricating a fictitious war on women for the purpose of basing a campaign around their opposition to this so-called war is not a strategy that is popular among Americans. Women are allowed to form their own opinions, and, believe it or not, not all women are liberals who believe the government should fund and expand access to abortion and contraception, among other issues. Maybe it’s time the Democrats realize a woman’s most important body part is her brain, not her uterus.
Joe Puchner is a sophomore majoring in mathematics. His column runs biweekly.
