It is not an enviable task to lead a party in an election year that has been stomping on women’s rights and reproductive freedom — and in short order may nominate Mitt Romney, a candidate who is extraordinarily unpopular with women. Media is overrun with talk of a “war on women,” a (somewhat problematic) military metaphor if there ever was one. So there’s a good reason why Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, along with others, are trying to change the subject — both with an “all women care about is the economy, not contraception” talking point, and by fighting metaphor with metaphor.
If only Priebus’ metaphor game weren’t so lacking.
In comments which will air this weekend on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” Priebus ensured that caterpillars may be making appearances at rallies throughout this campaign, and perhaps in his inbox:
“If the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we’d have problems with caterpillars … It’s a fiction.”
A few things: women are not insects, and offering the two in comparison is probably a poor strategy for winning their votes. Also a bad look? Utterly dismissing the complaints of said women as “fiction” about policies your party is enacting, and which are clearly swaying them away from voting for your candidates. That seems obvious, right?
Whether Priebus is blissfully ignorant about what his party is doing to women — or knows exactly what they’re doing, and doesn’t care — I can’t be certain. But I do know that women vote, and it’s Priebus’ job to make sure they vote for Republicans. How does this help?
Jamil Smith