Changes may be afoot for the GOP on how they handle a growing group of voters: working women.
“Every parent who works has been through the day-care nightmare,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was the senior economic policy adviser to McCain (R-Ariz.) during the 2008 election. “This has been underappreciated by Republican candidates in part and conservatives in general. They think this stuff is automatic.”
And working mothers are changing the way they vote: “Three elections ago, nearly half of all working mothers chose George W. Bush. In 2008, the share dropped to 40 percent for Sen. John McCain. By 2012, only about a third backed Mitt Romney.”
The best way to connect with working women? Come up with some family-friendly proposals, say both voters and consultants alike. Then start owning the issue, rather than assuming each family has a stay-at-home parent and it’s always the woman opting in to do so.