Alexandra Smith of the College Republican National Committee spoke to CPAC 2016 attendees on Thursday afternoon. She was there to explain how to reach the female vote, particularly when it comes to overcoming the so-called “War on Women.”
Smith provided a helpful background on where the meme started. After Republicans won the mid-term elections of 2010, leftist sites, such as the Daily Kos, began to warn of a “War on Women” in 2011. Debbie Wasserman Schultz did the same. In Spring 2012, Mitt Romney was hit hard with such accusations and went on to lose the election, including with women, by 11 points.
As Smith helpfully categorized it, the War on Women is a loaded gun, lose/lose question. It presupposes, it assumes who you are, and unprepared candidates can go off track. With that kind of a track, the options are to merely do what the left says or get shocked.
Republicans don’t need to ignore the issues, and we should be able to engage on our terms. Of course, we shouldn’t have to be in such a fight anyway when it is not based on substance, but rather just a political game the left plays. That being said, Smith emphasized candidates do not need to change principles in order to succeed.
With 2014, the War on Women did not succeed, and Republican candidates were once more elected to office. They didn’t change their principles, but rather re-expressed them.
Smith talked much about the New Republican, which is based off of Ronald Reagan’s 1977 CPAC speech about forming a new Republican Party. Thus, there was a recalibration of new messages for a new generation of Americans, with new language to communicate principles.
Senate candidates from 2014, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Cory Gardner of Colorado all won, because, as Smith explained, they made their campaign about more than just a few issues. In New Hampshire, however, despite being considered a moderate, Scott Brown did not win.
Later in her presentation, Smith also spoke of how to bring up a counterpoint to the Democratic Party’s claim of a “War on Women.” Using figures about the amount of small business owners who are women, one can point to how liberals and their regulations, especially under the Obama’s administration, have actually hurt women. This is particularly when Big Government holds the view that women cannot be trusted with their businesses.
Smith pointed to how there will be people who disagree on issues, but candidates ought to anticipate and deal with the matter respectfully. Again, it does not mean they have to change what they believe in, which may actually make them less likely to win.
