Looking at the GOP’s recent record, it’s really no wonder why women overwhelmingly voted to reelect Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.
Between the epidemic of foot-in-mouth disease plaguing conservative, male politicians, the Republican Party’s weak slate of female candidates and the national party headquarters’ unwillingness to invest large sums in women’s outreach, the GOP practically handed women over to the Democratic Party in 2012 on a bedazzled platter.
It would be easy enough for the GOP to write off women’s overwhelming support of Obama as par for the course given that the Democratic Party has been winning the female gender for the past 20 years. The last time a Republican presidential candidate won the women’s vote was in 1988, when George. H. W. Bush won 50 percent of this demographic to Michael Dukakis’ 49 percent.
Republicans often forget, however, that prior to losing the women’s vote to Bill Clinton in ’92, it was their party that dominated the female vote for the previous decade.
Women are not inherently Democratic. The GOP simply hasn’t courted them properly since leg warmers were in vogue.
Several groups on the right are finally looking to change that, however, and they are starting at the source. Recognizing that the best people to talk to women about women’s issues are other women, organizations like the Republican National Committee, the Palladian View, RightNOW Women PAC and conservative non-profit the Leadership Institute have made training women on the right to run for office a top priority in 2014.
“That’s how we’re going to change the mindset and change the country – with more conservative women on board,” RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day told Red Alert Politics of the effort when it launched.
At the urging of Day, the national party launched a program in September to recruit women candidates to run for office. With its “Blackboard to Blacktop: Getting Ready to Run” trainings, the RNC hopes to “empower more Republican women to run for public office, run a campaign or even a local county Republican office,” according to a press release sent out at the time.
“And we’re not just encouraging women to run for Congress,” Day told Red Alert Politics of the effort. “Maybe they’re passionate about education so we want them to run for school board.”
So far the RNC has held the trainings in Providence, Orlando, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
In August, Day previewed the push at the Palladium View’s first-ever Bridging the Gap Summit. The one-day summit brought together approximately 150 conservative women activists and business leaders to discuss topics such as how the government can best help single moms and what women can do to attract more young people to the Republican Party. The group ended the gathering with a panel moderated by Day of Republican lawmakers, including North Carolina Rep. Renee Ellmers, Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Texas Rep. Kay Granger that was meant to encourage the summit’s attendees to run for office.
This weekend, the Leadership Institute will hold its own training for women candidates out of its Arlington, Va.-based headquarters. The training will be completely taught by women and boasts speakers like former American Conservative Union (CPAC) communications director Laura Rigas , Tea Party News Network new director Scottie Hughes and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Sally Canfield.
While organizations like LI and the RNC are focused on recruiting women to run for office, a recently relaunched PAC for women is focused on getting conservative female candidates the financial resources they need to win.
Rather than targeting a small list of high-dollar donors, RightNOW Women’s PAC is looking to attract a broad level of support from female activists who, while not wealthy, are committed to electing more women to office. The PAC’s relaunch event, for instance, cost only $20 to attend, ensuring that it was packed with young women who have time to put toward helping the PAC raise money.
While its too early to say how successful the PAC will be at raising money for female candidates, the GOP has already taken notice of the group. The PAC’s relaunch party this month on Capitol Hill attracted GOP stars like Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Reps. Blackburn, Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Tom Price (R-Ga.), House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and others.
“No one would ever believe that there would be this big of a crowd for a young women Republican event,” Boehner told attendees of the event. “My job is to grow the party, not, like some, to shrink the party, so to see all of you here tonight at this kickoff event warms my heart.”
The RNC has not yet said when and where it will resume its Ready to Run program, the last training of which was before the holidays, but the Leadership Institute’s Director of External Affairs Lauren Day told Red Alert Politics in an email that LI’s training is just the beginning of the organization’s plan to reach out to women.
“This February 1 workshop is the first of many to come that LI’s Director of Political & Career Programs Patricia Simpson will plan across the country,” she promised.
Shoshanna Weissmann contributed to this report.
