The Examiner's Ashe Schow points out something interesting about the CNN debate with Democratic presidential contenders (featuring Hillary Clinton, a Cranky Hobbit, and three other guys): the phrase "War on Women" was never uttered.

"Are Democrats back-benching the 'war on women'?" she asks:

Women's issues took a back seat at Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate, and attacks against Republicans for waging a supposed "war on women" were kept to a minimum. In fact, the phrase was never uttered — a sharp departure from the tactic employed by Democrats in 2012 and 2014.

Hillary Clinton was the only candidate even to mention Planned Parenthood or allude to abortion (Democrats rarely use the word since it doesn't poll well; they say instead, as Clinton did, "a woman's right to choose"). Debate moderator Anderson Cooper didn't ask a single question about the devastating videos that appeared to show Planned Parenthood administrators haggling over reimbursement rates for fetal tissue donated to medical science or altering abortion procedures to secure better tissue. There was no question about the recent announcement by the organization that it would no longer collect reimbursements.

Clinton's only mention of the organization came when she suggested Republicans are for Big Government when it works for them.

"They don't mind having big government to interfere with a woman's right to choose and to try to take down Planned Parenthood," Clinton said. "They're fine with big government when it comes to that. I'm sick of it."

I can't help interjecting here: Good sound bite, Hillary, but you've got it backwards. It takes big government to give around $500 million of taxpayer money to the organization every year, which whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, is a huge outlay; it does not require big government to stop spending this money in this way. It would take a vote from Congress, which, FYI, Hillary, existed long before government outgrew its proper boundaries.

But back to Schow:

As for the gender pay gap, which is mostly a product of the different choices men and women make in their careers and not of discrimination, was mentioned in passing only twice.

Campus sexual assault, which has gained national prominence in the past year thanks to bogus statistics and questionable or false accusations, didn't get a single mention. This, despite Clinton's acceptance of the myth that we're in the midst of an "epidemic."

There was also no mention of birth control.

The only "women's issue" that was discussed in any detail was paid family leave. Clinton mentioned it in her opening statement, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders mentioned it when discussing socialism, and CNN host Dana Bash asked a question about the policy. Bash asked Clinton whether mandated paid leave might lead to hiring fewer people and creating fewer jobs, as GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has suggested.

This is an important development if it is foreshadowing of how the Democrats will try to attract women voters in  2016. Republicans need to be prepared to explain why mandatory paid family leave doesn't really help women (here, here, and here–just for starters). As IWF's Sabrina Schaeffer notes in this morning's Washington Post, the GOP has shamefully neglected this issue so far in its presidential debates.