As liberals, we have been alternately mystified, amused and outraged by the GOP's ongoing war against women. This is crazy talk. Transvaginal probes, forcible rape, closing abortion clinics, attacking Planned Parenthood, opposing contraception, personhood amendments. Have they lost their minds? Do they KNOW any women?
There are many in the GOP who are ideologues. These issues are what brought them to politics. They live and die for these causes. But what about the others? What is the deafening silence from those who have other agendas? Are they that intimidated by the Tea Party that they will allow the whole GOP to be hijacked by this one issue?
The answer is yes and no. They can't win on the economy. Romney ruined that with the 47% reveal. They can't win on National Security, Obama is Bush lite. They can't win on immigration. They can't overturn Obamacare.
But they still have the evangelicals, many of whom are one issue voters. Abortion is murder of innocent babies. Period. End of story. Can't tell you how many evangelical friends have told me they will never vote for a Democrat because of abortion. Almost no one is a one issue voter these days. Our world is frighteningly complex. The GOP is making it easy for a large number of their faithful to continue to vote against their own best interests by reminding them of dead babies. Cynical, craven, and effective.
We can talk about women's right to choose, they see dead babies. We can cite invasion of privacy, they see dead babies. We can mock junk science, they see dead babies. We can describe emotional anguish of rape and incest, they see dead babies. It is maddeningly simplistic, but virtually unassailable.
The good news is, the rest of America sees through it, and most younger Americans never bought it. Time is on our side.