Why are there not more women in Ohio running for office?For more statistics on women in politics visit:
I believe there are several reasons, but will talk about two areas in which I feel we are lacking the most, candidate recruitment, and branding.
Candidate Recruitment -In suffering electoral losses over the last few cycles, the Republican party needs to reevaluate how it recruits candidates - including females.
It should be stated this shouldn't be about women vs. men, it should be about who the best candidate for the job is. It is more important to make a decision based upon merit and viability rather than gender. Certainly, there are a number of well qualified and viable females in the party who fit the bill.
When you look at the statistics, nationally women make up 53% of all eligible voters, and in the 2004 Presidential election 54% of the voters were women. These numbers are hard to ignore. The GOP would be wise to consider this when recruiting candidates or crafting how we are messaging our platform.
We should then look to recruit female candidates who deliver a strong appeal to our voters- individuals who can communicate how the conservative party's values and platform serve to benefit all Ohioans, men and women alike. For too long the party has focused solely on the highly divisive issue of abortion as the defining issue for women. Our female officials need to engage voters from all walks and demonstrate how their platforms are appealing to the voter on more than one issue.
Ohio has many qualified Republican women who would make great candidates both on a county and state level. The GOP needs to do more to support, and recruit these women into running for higher political office. Our future candidates need to be reaching out to more than our typical base voter.
The Republican Brand -We need to rework how we are communicating our party's platform to the voting public. The Obama team has demonstrated how effective a good ‘branding' campaign can be, and they are continuously working to protect ‘the brand's' image.
It's not just about controlling the message, it's about embracing constituents and energizing voters with candidates who can relate to and inspire the average voter. We need to re-evaluate the way we are marketing our party platform. We have been losing, among others, women voters over the past few years because we are marketing to such a narrow audience. According to recent polls, only 41% of Americans have a favorable view of the GOP, a drop of 15 points since 2001. We have made it a point to single out women as one-issue voters, and label them as such. We need to re-brand the GOP image to reach a wider range of individuals, explaining how the Republican solutions to today's problems are the better choice for Main St. and Wall St. - for the Joe Six Packs & Joe Six Figures alike.
As far as the topic of media scaring off women candidates... it's time we put our big girl pants on and get over it! Sure there are hurdles that women face regarding media coverage, as the saying goes the media will cover a woman candidate based upon her, "hairlines, hems and husbands," but we as a party need to stand up for our female candidates and force the media to cover their agendas, and to stay on target. It takes a collective effort from the party to back any candidate whether they be male or female.
Of the volunteers I had the opportunity to work with as the Butler County Volunteer Coordinator for the McCain campaign, over 80% were women. The women are there, it is just a matter of re-branding to appeal to a broader base of women, and recruiting qualified candidates to run.
Nicole Rapier
Vice-President, Butler County Young Republicans
Technology Chair, Butler County Republican Women's Club
http://www.nfrw.org/republicans/women/21.htm or http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/index.php
