In 2012, as the Democratic Party mounted its electoral defense of the Obama presidency and its bid to control both the White House and Congress, its unified message popularized the phrase “War on Women,” a catchy alliteration that news media were happy to repeat.

The presumption behind the Democrats’ campaign was that there was an ideological formula to men’s treatment of women. If you believed in the party’s agenda, in abortion, in taxpayer-funded goodies, in higher taxes, or any number of left-wing priorities irrespective of their lack of connection to women’s wellbeing, you weren’t waging war on women, you were on the side of the angels. Your political views, as in former President Bill Clinton’s case, were an absolute defense against charges of sexual transgression.