It is now being reported that at a lunch yesterday, Senator Barbara Boxer said that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would lead the “war against women.” Here are her reported comments:
There is a war against women, and Romney and Ryan — if they are elected — would become its top generals.
She continued:
There is a sickness out there in the Republican Party, and I’m not kidding. Maybe they don’t like their moms or their first wives; I don’t know what it is.
I’m tired of this hyperbolic Romney and Ryan are bad for women rhetoric. Does anyone really think that Romney and Ryan are preparing to lead an army against women? Or that Romney and Ryan don’t like the women in their lives? Ryan, for example, talks about Medicare with compassion. Politico reports:
"Like a lot of Americans, when I think about Medicare, it’s not just a program,” Ryan told the mostly elderly crowd at The Villages, a central Florida retirement community that is billed as the world’s largest. “It’s what my mom relies on. It’s what my grandma had.”
Douglas — who spends her winters in nearby Lauderdale-By-The-Sea — plays tennis and works out every day, Ryan said, and she appeared spry as the two walked hand in hand toward the stage.
The congressman pointed to his mother as an example of how the debate over Medicare is both political and personal in a state with the highest percentage of elderly voters in the country. To voters here today, Betty is a “Medicare senior in Florida,” one of the nation’s many “snowbirds” who flees colder climes during the winter months for the warmth of places like Florida.
“Medicare was there for our family, for my grandma, when we needed it then, and Medicare is there for my mom while she needs that now, and we need to keep that guaranteed,” the House Budget Committee chairman said, describing the experience of being one of the primary caregivers for his grandmother, who suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s.
Our own Sabrina Schaeffer wrote a piece for Forbes on the issue Boxer raised, Pitting Ryan Against Women A Counterproductive Sideshow:
What’s good for women and their families, however, are not more government “freebies” but robust economic growth. Mitt Romney knows that winning in November will require tackling the issues that really matter to women – the size and scope of government, economic growth, and job creation. And Ryan seems just the man to help him do it.
Boxer should at least concede that the selection of Ryan has led to one positive for women–it has raised the profile of our discussion of Medicare and entitlement reform. She might disagree with Ryan's proposed reforms, but at least he has sparked a serious discussion.