It’s tough to be a woman in the GOP. Republican women who want to be outspoken members of their party, defying the narrative that the GOP is the party of old, white men, risk heightened scrutiny from a mainstream media dead-set on proving that the GOP is the party of old, white men.
Will the six new female members of the congressional GOP (remember, Sen. Shelly Moore Capito is new to the Senate but moved up from the House) become media darlings, media punching bags or settle into rank-and-file obscurity?
For Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Reps. Mia Love of Utah and Elise Stefanik of New York, the paths may have already been chosen for them. Each were women to watch during the 2014 campaign season and became conservative heroes during their campaigns.
Democrats tried to pigeonhole Ernst into the “media punching bag” category by framing her as the “Sarah Palin of Iowa” in an attempt to paint her as a far-right dummy, prone to saying loopy things during her close election against Democrat Bruce Braley. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz went so far as to call Ernst “an onion of crazy.”
Despite Democrats and some media outlets trying to label Ernst as less than intelligent (the irony of such accusations being labeled against a Republican woman in the era of the “war on women” being lost on those people), Ernst made it through her campaign without any “legitimate rape” type comments. Time Magazine’s congressional correspondent Jay Newton-Small even defended Ernst while discussing the former Iowa State Senator’s compromises with Democrats.
“Ernst is one Tina Fey sketch away from being unfairly boxed into a persona she is working hard to avoid,” Newton-Small wrote, referencing the Saturday Night Live skit in which Tina Fey — as Sarah Palin — claimed she could see Russia from her backyard, a statement that has since been erroneously attributed to Palin herself by the Left.
Love and Stefanik may have easier transitions into the “media darling” category if they choose. Love already had a large fanbase built from her previous Congressional run — although she lost some because of her vote to keep John Boehner as House Speaker. Both Love and Stefanik avoided making Todd Akin-style comments during their campaigns and managed to avoid being labeled as Sarah Palin clones by the mainstream media.
All three are historic candidates: Ernst, the first woman member of either house elected from Iowa; Love, the first black female Republican and first Haitian-American to serve in Congress; and Stefanik, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Given their backgrounds, they should easily become spokeswomen for the party.
That is, of course, if they not only provide coherent sound bites but also champion meaningful legislation and causes. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., was considered to be an incoming firebrand when she was elected in 2012, but has since taken a low profile. (She was, however, just named as counsel to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Capito.)
And there’s nothing wrong with being a rank-and-file politician. It’s a safe position to take as a freshman, and it shields politicians from becoming polarizing figures before they can accomplish anything. Fischer’s name does not elicit the same reaction as Sen. Ted Cruz’s, for example.
The other three new Republican women — Reps. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Martha McSally of Arizona and Mimi Walters of California — more or less flew under the radar through their elections. That, of course, can definitely change (and I hope it does), because each of these women has the potential to become a strong leader in the party.
The issue now is navigating a path toward that notoriety without falling into the media’s trap.
