"Conservatives say they pushed Dede Scozzafava out of the House race in New York’s 23rd District a week ago because of her left-of-Republican social views —
and not because she is a woman.
But
the growing schism between the Republican Party’s ascendant right wing and its shrinking moderate core has clear gender undertones — and Scozzafava’s departure raises fresh questions about the GOP’s ability to recruit, elect and even tolerate the sort of moderate women who used to be part of its ruling mainstream.
While Republicans scored a pair of impressive electoral victories in New Jersey and Virginia with solid support among female voters,
the events of the last week offer harbingers of serious trouble ahead with the largest swing voter bloc in the country —
women.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), one of the most outspoken feminists in the House, put it more bluntly:
“This is a party that doesn’t respect women, a party that doesn’t believe women are equal to men,” she told POLITICO.
“I don’t think they attract women to their party,” added Wasserman Schultz.
“I think they repulse women.”