The Republican War Against Women An Insider's Report from Behind the Lines

by MELICH, TANYA

• ISBN13: 9780553378160
• ISBN10: 0553378163
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-01-05
• Publisher: Bantam

Summary

In 1980, Republicans used appeals to sexist and racist bigotry to win the Presidency. The party adopted an electoral strategy that included getting votes by playing on the fear and uncertainty engendered by the civil rights and women's political movements, and continued to use this strategy in the campaigns of 1984, 1988, and 1992. Under the Reagan and Bush administrations, this strategy became a crucial part of the party's governing policies. This book is not a political science treatise nor a description of political campaigns; it is a documented account of a grab for power that, as the years pass, continues to intensify antagonism between the sexes and to sow unnecessary division among the American people. As a longtime Republican activist and a delegate to the 1992 convention, Tanya Melich has observed these actions from within; and documents this takeover and the Party's ongoing practices (such as embracing the Christian right) in a devastating, factual, and often hair-raising report. A combination of history, exposA, reasoned polemic, and call to arms, this book has now been enriched by two completely new chapters that assesses the outcome of the 1996 election in terms of the book's thesis and realistically lays out the future: both in terms of what it will be if the right-wing elements of the Republican party continue to set the agenda, and how it can be changed if centrist women (and men) take charge of that agenda. The heart of such change lies with Independents, who now constitute a startling 39 percent of Americans (31 percent identify themselves as Democrats and 30 percent as Republicans). We are not a country of strong party loyalties, and the enormous growth of independents is the signal that change is not only possible but achievable. As a superb political pro, the author offers hardheaded strategies for such change. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Houston, August 19, 1992	ix
PART I: HOW IT HAPPENED	1	(136)
1 The Conflict of Principle and Expediency	3	(17)
2 Two Emerging Agendas	20	(18)
3 The Line Is Crossed	38	(11)
4 An Emboldened New Right	49	(17)
5 A Time of Accommodation	66	(18)
6 The Backlash Breaks Out	84	(19)
7 The Successful Trial Run	103	(14)
8 Winning the Brass Ring	117	(20)
PART II: THE MISOGYNIST ERA OF REAGAN -- BUSH, 1980-1992	137	(188)
9 Reagan's New Republican Beginning	139	(26)
10 The "Women's Problem"	165	(27)
11 "Teach Them a Lesson"	192	(19)
12 The Coalition Cracks	211	(20)
13 Valuable Weapons: Bush's Political Women	231	(17)
14 Victory Without Honor	248	(22)
15 Pro-Choicers Fight Back	270	(20)
16 Faithful Friend of the Right	290	(13)
17 The Collapse of Bush	303	(22)
PART III: REBIRTH OR EXTREMISM	325	(64)
18 Theocrats Get a Place at the Table	327	(15)
19 The Chaos of the GOP	342	(26)
20 The Future of the Republic	368	(21)
Notes	389	(26)
Bibliography	415	(8)
Acknowledgements	423	(4)
Index	427