So says Adrienne Royer:


Because women on the right don’t seperate the issues of being a woman and being a conservative, we’ve only organized in response to specifc legislative issues (abortion and ERA). Occassionally, some efforts have been made to harness the power of conservative women. Phyllis Schafly probably had the most successful run in the 70s and 80s in defeating the ERA. Later in the early 90s, the Independent Women’s Forum was created in response to Justice Thomas’ confirmation hearings.

Until Sarah Palin entered the picture last year, conservative women were disjointed. We were involved politically, but didn’t single out women’s issues as a major platform.

If Betty Friedan gave a voice to the problem with no name, Sarah Palin forced the political and social movement with no cohesion to the forefront of American politics. Regardless of how you feel about Palin, she was the lightening rod that spurred women to organize on the right. We’re now seeing that.