The GOP Predicted That Women Would Bring Them Down 3 Years Ago

By Annie Gabillet
Getty | Paul J. Richards
Getty | Paul J. Richards

After the 2012 election, the Republican party knew it had a problem with women. In fact, it dedicated a whole section of the so-called 2012 election "autopsy report" to female voters. The Growth and Opportunity report, which was meant to guide the party to victory in future elections, noted that Barack Obama won single women by a "whopping" 36 points and all women by 11 points in 2012. As a result, it recommended 10 action items that would help the party "improve our brand with women throughout the country."

So how's that going? Not well, obviously. The GOP may have nominated a marketing genius in Donald Trump, but he's proven to be the worst person to improve the GOP brand with American women. He even admitted it in 1999, telling Chris Matthews: "People want me to [run for president] all the time . . . I don't like it. Can you imagine how controversial I'd be? You think about [Bill Clinton] and the women. How about me with the women? Can you imagine?"

Trump's misogyny has been well documented the entire campaign. Megyn Kelly brought it up in the first GOP debate, asking Trump if he had the temperament to be president considering he had called women "fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals." His attack of Kelly following the debate only confirmed his disrespect: "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes," he said. "Blood coming out of her wherever."

While it didn't seem possible, Trump's relationship with women voters is getting even more dire as election day draws near. After the "Trump Tapes" leaked last week, voters heard the GOP nominee bragging about sexually assaulting women. And his victims are coming forward. All signs point to a total meltdown of support among women, as evidenced in this Five Thirty Eight map that imagines how Trump would do if only women voted:

Recognizing that women could change the outcome of the election, some Trump supporters on Twitter this week dreamed about repealing the 19th Amendment. You know, the one that gave women the right to vote.

I would be willing to give up my right to vote to make this happen #repealthe19th https://t.co/vndQu9dKFP

ā€” CT Christian 4 Trump (@TracyOgrodnik) October 12, 2016

To prevent the US from becoming Brazil.
#RepealThe19th pic.twitter.com/QQVd3Qre7O

ā€” Ad Benedict šŸø (@AdBen_) October 12, 2016

(Brazil's most recent president was a woman named Dilma Vana Rousseff.)

Looking back on the GOP's assessment, the danger of alienating women was no secret. Below are some of their recommendations for reaching out to women voters ā€” remember, this was just three years ago! Reading them, you feel like Donald Trump has hijacked the party:

  • "Communicating, organizing, and winning the women's vote should be part of all activities
    that the RNC undertakes. Women are not a 'coalition.' They represent more than half the
    voting population in the country, and our inability to win their votes is losing us elections.
  • "Our candidates, spokespeople, and staff need to use language that addresses concerns that are on women's minds in order to let them know we are fighting for them."
  • "Be conscious of developing a forward-leaning vision for voting Republican that appeals to
    women. The Republican Party needs to offer that same vision and message demonstrating
    that our policies, principles, and vision address the concerns of female voters."
  • "Republicans should develop a more aggressive response to Democrat rhetoric regarding a so-called 'war on women.'"
  • "Republicans need to talk about people and families, not just numbers and statistics.
    Female voters want to hear the facts; many of them run the economies of their homes
    and understand economics better than the men in their families."
  • "The Republican Party must recognize the unique challenges that female candidates face when running for office, as well as the unique opportunities female candidates provide in winning elections."
  • "Republicans need to make a better effort at listening to female voters, directing their policy
    proposals at what they learn from women, and communicating that they understand what
    a woman who is balancing many responsibilities is going through."

Trump's ability to repel many women voters like nobody else was one of the reasons I said Trump could never win the general election, months before the latest revelations. Women will show the GOP it can't get away with nominating a candidate who degrades females as long as they vote Nov. 8.