Sen. Olympia Snowe on how the GOP can mend its image among women

In the article “Sen. Olympia Snowe on how the GOP can mendits image among women” (posted August 24, 2012 on washingtonpost.com), Republican Senator Olympia Snowe (ME) talks about the GOP’s position on women’s issues, recent events that have solidified the notion that the GOP is waging a war on women, and what the GOP will have to do in order to win back some of the female vote for the upcoming presidential election. Senator Snowe references two events in particular - recent comments made by Representative Todd Akin (R - Mo) regarding how a woman’s body deals with rape and the hard-core GOP stance on abortion – that have damaged their relationship with female voters.

I believe Senator Snowe’s commentary is targeted at ALL women, both Democrats and Republicans alike. While Senator Snowe herself is a Republican, her views appear to be somewhat liberally conservative. She supports issues such as a woman’s right to choose, legalized abortion, and gay rights.

Senator Snowe’s main advice on how the GOP can win back the female vote is for Romney to “disassociate himself from the extremes within our party…” Specifically, she is referring to the very rigid stance that some members of the GOP have in regards to abortion – no abortions in ANY case, with no exceptions. I agree with Senator Snowe’s idea of disassociation, but considering that Romney has chosen a running mate who IS one of the extremists, I can hardly see how this will be possible.

Senator Snowe goes on to propose that Romney focus on another important set of issues to women, which are jobs and the economy. She also provides statistics on how women are affected by programs such as Medicare/Medicaid and advises on how Romney needs to show how he will support these programs going forward in order to benefit women.

While I agree with some of the suggestions that she makes, I think it will be difficult for Romney to change the minds of the female voters who are already siding with the Democrats due to the GOP's stance on these issues. Even if female voters thought there was sincerity in Romney’s claims and proposals, it’s too little, too late. The GOP has really hurt itself with the extremist views that many of its members are taking in regards to reproductive health and the rights of women. I think that Senator Snowe knows this is a problem that will not easily be resolved and is simply suggesting other issues to focus on in order to take the focus OFF of reproductive rights. As the article mentions, Senator Snowe will be retiring in January from her role as Senator, and while this may have some bearing on her decision to post this commentary and put the issues out there, I think it is more likely that because she is a woman and is already known to take a more liberal side to her conservative views, she feels as though she understands the concerns that women have about the issues at hand and can voice her opinion about them without retribution.