Women make up the largest demographic among registered voters in America and consistently participate in elections, with over 68% turning out to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Some political analysts suggest that with the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade, abortion has become a key issue among voters, benefiting Democratic candidates. However, in the 2022 midterm elections, there was an increase in support for GOP candidates among women voters, with 48% casting their ballots for Republicans compared to 40% in 2018.
Straight Arrow News contributor Jordan Reid argues that Republicans don’t seem to care all that much about the female vote. Reid contends that their policies are failing to appeal to women, especially white women, who might be increasingly disenchanted with former President Trump.
So what is the GOP doing to try to win over the much-needed women’s vote? Wordplay! They’re not changing their policies, they’re just changing the way they talk about them, emphasizing better care for pregnant women, presumably even the ones who very much do not want to be pregnant (although, side note, maternal care has never appeared to be a huge Republican priority). They’re also redirecting the conversation towards issues like crime and the economy as other issues that affect women voters.
To be clear, they’re not addressing the fact that women and men overwhelmingly support abortion access. They’re waving shiny things to distract voters, to make them think about other stuff. Or maybe they’re thinking what conservative podcast host Alex Clark said last June: “Politics,” she said, “should not be a priority right now for conservative women. They would be happier if they would go back to biblical roots and what God had designed for women to do.”
The quiet part said right out loud. Republicans do not care about their female voters. They don’t care about their health, they don’t care about their futures — and fundamentally — they don’t even care about their children.