During the Republican primaries, Gov. Romney pandered to the worst anti-woman elements of his party, promising to "get rid" of Planned Parenthood, reversing himself to eventually support the anti-contraception Blunt amendment, and refusing to call Rush Limbaugh out for his verbal assault of Sandra Fluke (saying instead that Limbaugh's hateful remarks were "not the language" that he would have used).
Having now reached the "etch-a-sketch" moment where he could begin an outreach with women, Gov. Romney indicated that he would focus on women's jobs and pay. However, his campaign has now fumbled that issue.
Asked today on a conference call if Mitt Romney supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — a landmark law passed in 2009 that empowers women to seek restitution for pay discrimination — the presumed GOP nominee’s campaign officials told reporters, “We’ll get back to you on that.” The law, the first signed by President Obama after he took office, was killed by Republicans in 2008 and is named after a woman who discovered she was being paid less than her male counterparts for doing the exact same work.Echoing Sen. Rand Paul's comments on the landmark Civil Rights Act, a Romney spokesperson later provided the mealy-mouthed follow-up that Gov. Romney "is not looking to change current law."
What a tremendous comfort that must be to women.
