Power

Concerned Women for America’s Lesson From Election? More Media Savvy Candidates

Anti-choice groups don't think their candidates are too extreme, they just need to be better trained.

Rep. Todd Akin. Photo: The New Yorker.

The results of the 2012 election made it clear that overall, voters had grown tired of the extreme, anti-women wing of the Republican party. Candidates that had been the most outspoken about eliminating a women’s right to abortion (and often birth control and other reproductive health services, too) were the ones who flamed out the most spectacularly on election day, while those who supported a woman’s right to control her body, as well as her economic well-being, won seat after seat in the House and the Senate.

You would think that this dramatic message from the voting public would make those on the right more inclined to scale back their attacks on women and seek out more moderate candidates. You would be wrong.

Anti-choice political groups have already reported that the losses were a result of presidential candidate Mitt Romney not being adamantly anti-abortion enough. Now they are claiming that the massive rejection of ultra anti-choice senate candidates Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, both heavily favored to win before their media blowouts over forcing rape victims to give birth against their wills, was just a matter of them not being persuasive enough in their talking points. Concerned Women for America’s Penny Nance has told the Christian Post that in the future, they will help their candidates better train for media appearances so next time, no one puts their foots in their mouths.

Nance says the answer is better education and training of candidates.

“We support candidates who support issues we feel strongly about,” said Nance. “With that said, I’m going to recommend moving forward that candidates who receive support from CWA must first attend one of our training sessions. They need to be able to articulate what the issue is and how it affects our society and voters.

“Candidates and office holders need to do a better job of responding to a question about a teenager who gets pregnant. A candidate can show compassion for the young woman while making suggestions about how to improve the circumstances that led to an untimed pregnancy.”

“Untimed pregnancy?” Is that the new talking point CWA will teach to their candidates in media training sessions?

With a focus on media polish versus better policies I guess we can look forward to another series of extremist anti-abortion political blunders in 2014 as well.