The right’s single-mom mistake: Why their latest attacks are clueless and doomed

[DonViejo]

Republicans are fast losing ground with single moms -- and falsely painting Wendy Davis as a gold digger won't help

CAROLYN EDGAR

When I was in law school at Harvard, I didn’t know Wendy Davis, the Democratic Texas state senator now running for governor of Texas, although we were in the same graduating class. But Davis’ story reminds me of other young mothers I knew at Harvard, some of whom were single mothers. Whether married or single, the mothers in our class were fortunate enough to have a network that assisted them in raising their children while they pursued their educational and career dreams. Each woman’s network was unique to her circumstances, but generally consisted of a supportive co-parent (whether a husband or ex-husband, a partner, a step-parent, or a combination of the above) and extensive support from family and friends who believed the rewards of a Harvard Law School education were worth the short-term sacrifice.

Conservatives are now attempting to discredit Davis’s up-by-her-bootstraps story by questioning the period Davis spent as a single mother between her first and second marriages, and by casting her as a bad mother for supposedly putting her career before her children. These efforts rightly have been derided as sexist. But while the broadsides at Davis are rapidly approaching the point of parody, they also illustrate why Republicans have had such a hard time attracting unmarried women voters in recent elections. Given the GOP’s growing unpopularity with this group, attacking Davis’ single mother story looks like a losing strategy.

By blasting Davis for her so-called lies, Republicans hope to erode Davis’ support among women. Naomi Schaefer Riley, in a biting New York Post Op-Ed titled “Wendy Davis has no future in politics,” declared that “Americans will forgive a lot in a politician. But a woman who leaves her kids is just beyond the pale.” Ann Coulter, with her usual subtlety, called Davis a “gold-digger who found a sugar daddy to raise her kids and pay for her education.”

Schaefer Riley and Coulter are correct that there are women who will be turned off by Davis’ story – namely, conservative women who were already turned off by Davis’ allegiance to the Democratic Party and her pro-choice stance. But conservative pundits and commentators are, once again, underestimating the ability of women voters to determine for themselves what does and doesn’t appeal to them.

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http://www.salon.com/2014/01/28/gops_single_mom_mistake_why_their_latest_attacks_are_clueless_and_doomed/

[yellowcanine]

1. Exactly. Wendy's story hits home with women. They identify with it, even if they haven't been

through a divorce. Parsing the details of her separation and divorce are just going to piss off many women who either spent time themselves as separated/divorced moms, grew up as a child of a separated/divorced mom (true for many men also) or have friends, siblings who are separated/divorced moms (also true of men). The underlying theme for people is that this is a tough experience for women, and it does not stop when they get remarried. There are often issues of unpaid child support and there are many financial challenges in general. Women in this situation often are forced to choose between spending time with their children or getting an education which will allow them to get a decent job to support them. Once again Republicans are opening themselves up to charges of being clueless about women's issues. And the fact that they are allowing Republican women to lead the charge against Wendy Davis only makes it worse, imo.