Romney's clumsy attempts to woo women voters

Story published on Women's Views on News, Friday, April 13, 2012

Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is desperate to win back female voters, after moves by Republicans to curb abortion rights in some states and limit insurance cover for contraception have led to a surge in support for Obama.

Romney is going on the offensive over jobs, claiming that 92 per cent of jobs lost over the past three years have been lost by women.

But a fact check by the Washington Post, reveals that more men than women lost their jobs in the early years of the recession, when George W Bush was in charge.

Jobs were lost in construction and finance, while female-heavy industries such as public services were hit later.

This pattern is normal in a recession.  The Washington Post quotes US government figures which suggest 3.4 million men have lost their jobs since the start of the recession, compared to 1.8 million women.

Romney’s new-found appetite for women’s rights are dubious. Lanhee Chen, his policy director, could not confirm that he would support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, legislation introduced by Obama, to make it easier for women to file lawsuits for equal pay.

He has also been accused of deferring to his wife, when faced with questions about women.

“My wife has the occasion, as you know, to campaign on her own and also with me,” Romney told newspaper editors, “and she reports to me regularly that the issue women care about most is the economy,” he told reporters.