obama and didn t because they felt the party was too far right. mitch daniel, jeb bush and chris christie. all three of them looked at what was going on at the end of 2011 and said, really, do i want to get in the middle of a fight with guys like herman cain and possibly sarah palin? am i really going to engage in that type of debate? so it s not just the people we had out there, arianna, that really just shattered the republican brand at the primary process, it s the strong leaders that stayed away because of their fear of being dragged down into a mud pit. also those we don t know about, people staying away from politics simply because they don t want to be dragged into what politics has become. also the issues they picked. debating contraception in 2012 was not going to be a winning issue. they had a winning issue, the fate of the middle class.
congress, do you think we d be debating contraception? i don t think so. i think we d be talking about the economy, about the best way to get more women into small businesses and other small businesses. the best way to increase our manufacturing, increase entrepreneurialism and innovation. i think women s voices are very fundamental to this election. let s remember the backdrop of this as well, congresswoman bachmann. here are the latest polling numbers. the president has a big advantage on the numbers. but i want to ask you this question, because frankly, to me, it often seems condescending to say, well, what is the conversation that women care about? what are the issues that women care about? and yet, there are issues that women are particularly listening for. what kind of conversation would you like to see ensue in this campaign? well, certainly not the kind of conversation that you just rolled the tape from with hillary clinton, where they re insulting women who make the choice
it was reminiscent of 1992, on the campaign trail, hillary clinton saying this. you know, i suppose i could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what i decided to do was fulfill my profession, which i entered before my husband was in public life. is this the conversation that we re going to have again in the course of this campaign? i don t think so. but i think women s voices are going to be so important in this election. this is an election where i believe that women have to be heard. and you know, one of the reasons i started my campaign off the sideline is to ask america s women to participate. younger women aren t voting. we want to make sure they vote, making sure women are heard on issues they care about. making sure women are holding electable leaders responsible. in politics today, women don t have a strong enough voice. we only have 17% women in congress. we only have six governors. i like to joke with my friends, if we have 51% of women in congress, do
to fulfill my profession which i had before i was in public life. women s choices are going to be so important in this election. this is an election where i believe that women have to be heard. a lot of younger women aren t voting, we want to make sure younger women are voting. making sure women are holding elected leaders accountable. but in politics today, women don t have a strong enough voice. we only have 17% women in congress. we only have six governors. i like to joke with my friends, if we had 61 women in congress, i don t think we would be debating contraception. we need to be thinking about the wie to get women into small businesses. so i think women s voices are very fundmental to this
passionate constituencies. they either really desperately needed hillary clinton to be the first woman president or were really strongly behind this new guy barack obama and racing to the finish more passionate as the race went on. what you have now are people really none of whom has a strong constituency that s passionate about them. they re either passionate against barack obama or against mitt romney. you have people becoming more disconsulate over time. i don t think this helps them and running so far to the right. we re debating contraception. this is not smart. i don t disagree with that. that s why women are so turned off. right. you wake up, feel you re in a mad men episode. really? a fight about birth control pills? but i think that, don t miss mistake what happened in 2008. a race against the legacy of george w. bush in very much the same way republicans remain animated against barack obama s policies. so i don t think we can romanticize what happened in 08. people