Women’s rights played a surprise starring role in this election cycle, and activist Gloria Steinem had some harsh words for the GOP when she appeared on Andrea Mitchell Reports Monday.
“What we remember as the Republican Party has been taken over by extremists—economic and religious—it’s like the invasion of the body snatchers,” she said. “And now it’s extremist … it’s become like the American Taliban and that’s how we got Mitt Romney. Whatever he really believes, he is going along with everything they believe.”
Although Romney has tried to present himself to voters as the moderate candidate throughout the race, Steinem believes he’s far from one.
“I don’t know what he believes but he does have the most distance between what he puts down on paper and what he then characterizes in public at least when he’s talking to women,” she said. Steinem also pointed out that Romney’s stance on the Human Life Amendment, “would nationalize women’s bodies in effect and put all those decisions in the hands of the government.”
When Mitchell asked why Obama’s lead over Romney with women voters is only 8% in the latest NBC News/ WSJ poll, Steinem suggested it was a sophisticated game of fear tactics.
“He is scaring women with the idea that over $50,000 of the national debt would be on the heads of each of their children and grandchildren without saying that the debt would be increased by his military spending,” she said.
Steinem wants women voters to examine Romney’s policies especially on reproductive rights and equal pay.
“How can he say that equal pay is not an economic issue or that reproductive freedom is not an economic issue,” she asked. “Calling it social is a way of dispensing with it.”
Cathy Finkler