Everybody already knows that the Romney campaign hasn't won the support of enough women voters and that he can't win the White House unless he does. No doubt Team Romney thinks that their candidate's problems with women come from Democratic messaging about the war on women or other supposed left wing propaganda. Hopefully, Team Romney will never catch on to the truth: The problem is actually Team Romney. They have met the enemy and it is them.
I was provoked into these thoughts by this remark in teacherken's terrific rec'd diary today, where tk made the following observation about the risks of Romney's zinger debate strategy:
Third, and perhaps as a 66-year-old old fart of a white male I should not be saying thing, but such an approach will absolutely turn off most women - just what you really need to do right now, further alienate women.
I wondered why in the World would a major party, 21st Century U.S. Presidential campaign repeatedly say things and do things that, to the apparent surprise of the campaign, appear to seriously piss off a heck of a lot of women? It occurred to me, then, to take a look at just who Team Romney consists of, other than the candidate himself. What I found out did a lot to help me understand an answer to the Romney campaign's incompetence on women's interests and issues.
Come out into the tall grass and take a look at what I found.
Conveniently, just a few weeks ago, the Washington Post compiled a slide show of the 18 principal figures who influence and operate Romney's Presidential Campaign.
Here are the names and jobs of Team Romney's principal denizens:
Matt Rhoades Campaign Manager
Ed Gillespie Message and Strategy
Neil Newhouse Pollster
Beth Myers VP Search Director
Eric Fehrnstrom Senior Adviser
Stuart Stevens Message and Strategy
Russ Schriefer Image Consiultant
Kevin Madden Senior Adviser
Spencer Zwick Finance Manager
Peter Flaherty Manager, Conservative Outreach
Bob White Campaign Chairman
Ben Ginsberg Finance Advisor
Ron Kaufman Inside DC Consultant
Mike Leavett Transition Team Manager
Gail Gitcho Communications Director
Dan Senor Foreign Policy Advisor
John R. Bolton Foreign Policy Advisor
Alex Wong Foreign Policy Press Minder
WAPO has photos of each of these folks, so you don't just have to go by the names to figure out the only 1/9, that is 11% of Team Romney are women. If we add in Mrs. Romney, who consults with Governor Romney about lady things, the ratio of 3/19 = 19%.
Consider also the jobs assigned to the women on the team. Beth Myers is basically an office manager, the kind of Girl Friday that no Master of the Universe Class Executive ever wants to be without. I daresay she made the trains run on time for the the VP vetting process. She also ran the office for Romney when he was Massachusetts Governor. WAPO makes no mention of a post-VP selection roll for her in the campaign.
Gail Gitcho, the only other woman on Team Romney, is trotted out when the campaign wants a pretty face to put a nice shine on the crap they are selling, such as these remarks after the 47% video became public:
“As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work,” said Gail Gitcho, the Romney campaign’s communications director. “Mitt Romney’s plan creates 12 million new jobs in four years, grows the economy and moves Americans off of government dependency and into jobs.”
Though she is a loyal mouthpiece for the Romney campaign, let's have a show of hands on whether we think Gail Gitcho actually has any influence on the actions of the candidate or campaign. I didn't think so either.
Team Romney reflects both the corporate and religious roots of the candidate. In life, at church, at home and in business, Mitt Romney has spent all of his time in a cocoon where men are special and take precedence. Team Romney simply reflects the candidate, who doesn't really know very many real, modern American women. The Romney campaign will never make the adjustments necessary to reclaim women voters in this campaign, because there isn't even anybody around to tell Team Romney what they would have to do. Of course, the Romney campaign doesn't need to hear from women, really, because those guys surely know what is best for everyone, Right?