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| Republican Women Play Down Social Issues | Republican Women Play Down Social Issues |
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| TAMPA, Fla. — About a block from the Republican National Convention, in a strip mall next to a Hooters restaurant, is the Woman Up! Pavilion, sponsored by the Young Guns Network, a “super PAC” promoting conservative candidates. | TAMPA, Fla. — About a block from the Republican National Convention, in a strip mall next to a Hooters restaurant, is the Woman Up! Pavilion, sponsored by the Young Guns Network, a “super PAC” promoting conservative candidates. |
| Its décor is warm and welcoming, with circular banquettes accented by hot-pink carnations and red roses. There is a hair salon offering blowouts, and a gift shop. Cocktails like the “Lady Lemonade” and “Woman-Tini” are offered for $6. | Its décor is warm and welcoming, with circular banquettes accented by hot-pink carnations and red roses. There is a hair salon offering blowouts, and a gift shop. Cocktails like the “Lady Lemonade” and “Woman-Tini” are offered for $6. |
| The pavilion holds a one-room women’s suffrage museum, and offers forums on topics like “Advocacy Means Business: Building Your Organization” and “The Europeanization of the United States.” | The pavilion holds a one-room women’s suffrage museum, and offers forums on topics like “Advocacy Means Business: Building Your Organization” and “The Europeanization of the United States.” |
| What is missing from the all-inclusive spot? Any discussion of the social issues — abortion, same-sex marriage, insurance coverage for birth control — that have at times engulfed the Republican nominating contest. “We don’t talk social issues,” said Mary Ann Carter, policy director for the Young Guns Network, who manages the pavilion, as several young women from the convention milled about the space sipping coffee and shopping for souvenirs. “We talk about the economy. We talk about health care. We talk about energy.” | What is missing from the all-inclusive spot? Any discussion of the social issues — abortion, same-sex marriage, insurance coverage for birth control — that have at times engulfed the Republican nominating contest. “We don’t talk social issues,” said Mary Ann Carter, policy director for the Young Guns Network, who manages the pavilion, as several young women from the convention milled about the space sipping coffee and shopping for souvenirs. “We talk about the economy. We talk about health care. We talk about energy.” |
| This refrain is often heard in and around the convention these days. In dozens of interviews, women at the convention made clear that social issues are now taking a back seat. Even those who passionately agree (or disagree) with the new conservative party platform — calling for traditional marriage, public display of the Ten Commandments and a sweeping ban on abortion — did not seem to want to discuss the subject. (The one exception was Mr. Romney’s sister Jane, who on Wednesday declared that if Mr. Romney is elected president, a ban on abortion is “never going to happen.”) | This refrain is often heard in and around the convention these days. In dozens of interviews, women at the convention made clear that social issues are now taking a back seat. Even those who passionately agree (or disagree) with the new conservative party platform — calling for traditional marriage, public display of the Ten Commandments and a sweeping ban on abortion — did not seem to want to discuss the subject. (The one exception was Mr. Romney’s sister Jane, who on Wednesday declared that if Mr. Romney is elected president, a ban on abortion is “never going to happen.”) |
| Instead, women at the convention preferred to point to opening night on Tuesday, when a parade of Republican women took to the podium, including Ann Romney, who spoke about her family, and Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, who preached a gospel of economic empowerment, free of meddlesome government rules and regulations. | Instead, women at the convention preferred to point to opening night on Tuesday, when a parade of Republican women took to the podium, including Ann Romney, who spoke about her family, and Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, who preached a gospel of economic empowerment, free of meddlesome government rules and regulations. |
| Being visible was one way, Republican women said, to counter the Obama campaign’s charge that their party is waging a war on women. | Being visible was one way, Republican women said, to counter the Obama campaign’s charge that their party is waging a war on women. |
| “They’re doing the soft love approach,” said Sandra Stroman, a convention participant from Chester, S.C. “They’re holding up our women in this party and putting those women in front of the cameras, saying, ‘Here are our Republican women. Do they look like we have waged war against them?’ ” | “They’re doing the soft love approach,” said Sandra Stroman, a convention participant from Chester, S.C. “They’re holding up our women in this party and putting those women in front of the cameras, saying, ‘Here are our Republican women. Do they look like we have waged war against them?’ ” |
| With the intention of appealing to voters beyond the party’s base, many Republican women are simply avoiding the mention of abortion or gay rights because they are seen as too divisive in such a close, contentious race. Some acknowledge deliberately playing down their own views as a strategic move. Instead, they want to talk about the economy, just like the Romney campaign. | With the intention of appealing to voters beyond the party’s base, many Republican women are simply avoiding the mention of abortion or gay rights because they are seen as too divisive in such a close, contentious race. Some acknowledge deliberately playing down their own views as a strategic move. Instead, they want to talk about the economy, just like the Romney campaign. |
| title="Crossroads Generation">“Anything that gives women the idea that they can’t find friends in the Republican Party is unhelpful,” said Kristen Soltis, a pollster who is an adviser to Crossroads Generation, a pro-Romney super PAC. | |
| “I think what will be decisive in this election are those sort of kitchen-table economics: How am going to pay my bills? How am I going to make sure my kids get a good education? How am I going to make sure my parents are healthy?” | “I think what will be decisive in this election are those sort of kitchen-table economics: How am going to pay my bills? How am I going to make sure my kids get a good education? How am I going to make sure my parents are healthy?” |
| Ms. Soltis, 28, is personally in favor of same-sex marriage but is opposed to abortion. She tends not to pay much attention to the party platform, and hopes that one day it might shift to the center again, at least on social issues. | Ms. Soltis, 28, is personally in favor of same-sex marriage but is opposed to abortion. She tends not to pay much attention to the party platform, and hopes that one day it might shift to the center again, at least on social issues. |
| “I think particularly as more young people come to the party, that may lead to the party having different positions on things as the years go on,” she said, adding that in the meantime, “I consider myself focused on fiscal issues.” | “I think particularly as more young people come to the party, that may lead to the party having different positions on things as the years go on,” she said, adding that in the meantime, “I consider myself focused on fiscal issues.” |
| Mia Love, a mayor in Utah who is running for Congress, usually highlights her Mormon-inspired conservatism, but she, too, shied away from social issues in her speech at the convention on Tuesday, speaking instead about the lives of her parents, who were immigrants from Haiti. | Mia Love, a mayor in Utah who is running for Congress, usually highlights her Mormon-inspired conservatism, but she, too, shied away from social issues in her speech at the convention on Tuesday, speaking instead about the lives of her parents, who were immigrants from Haiti. |
| “I haven’t focused on those social issues because the economic issues are important to my district,” she said in an interview. “Fiscal discipline, our debt and deficit. We need to focus on work.” | “I haven’t focused on those social issues because the economic issues are important to my district,” she said in an interview. “Fiscal discipline, our debt and deficit. We need to focus on work.” |
| Ms. Love’s friend Deidre Henderson, a candidate for the Utah State Senate, who agrees with the party platform, described herself as “very pro-life” but added that social issues are “a distraction. What we need to focus on is the economy.” | Ms. Love’s friend Deidre Henderson, a candidate for the Utah State Senate, who agrees with the party platform, described herself as “very pro-life” but added that social issues are “a distraction. What we need to focus on is the economy.” |
| The distancing from social issues is all the more urgent, some conservative women acknowledged, in the aftermath of highly polarizing comments Representative Todd Akin of Missouri made two weeks ago, claiming that in cases of “legitimate rape” one need not consider abortion, because the female reproductive system shuts itself down. | The distancing from social issues is all the more urgent, some conservative women acknowledged, in the aftermath of highly polarizing comments Representative Todd Akin of Missouri made two weeks ago, claiming that in cases of “legitimate rape” one need not consider abortion, because the female reproductive system shuts itself down. |
| “Of course it was unhelpful,” said Ms. Soltis, the pollster, saying that Democrats have seized the issue to support their contention that Republicans are hostile to women. “I think that because unemployment is so high, Democrats think it’s much easier to win over women voters if they talk about these social issues. I think that’s a risky gamble for them, because I so firmly believe that this will be an election about the economy.” | “Of course it was unhelpful,” said Ms. Soltis, the pollster, saying that Democrats have seized the issue to support their contention that Republicans are hostile to women. “I think that because unemployment is so high, Democrats think it’s much easier to win over women voters if they talk about these social issues. I think that’s a risky gamble for them, because I so firmly believe that this will be an election about the economy.” |
| And on that subject, Republican women are intent on returning the incoming fire from the Democrats. Rae Lynne Chornenky, the president of the National Federation of Republican Women, addressed the convention on Monday, repeated the oft-discredited claim that 92 percent of all the jobs lost under Mr. Obama were those of women. | And on that subject, Republican women are intent on returning the incoming fire from the Democrats. Rae Lynne Chornenky, the president of the National Federation of Republican Women, addressed the convention on Monday, repeated the oft-discredited claim that 92 percent of all the jobs lost under Mr. Obama were those of women. |
| “If there is a war against women,” she said, “it is President Obama who waged it.” | “If there is a war against women,” she said, “it is President Obama who waged it.” |
Sarah Wheaton contributed reporting from Palm Harbor, Fla. | Sarah Wheaton contributed reporting from Palm Harbor, Fla. |