The Woman of CPAC - What Do You Talk About at an Old White Guys' Event?

http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/the-woman-of-cpac/

CPAC (the annual Conservative Political Action Convention) has come to a close, and although perhaps the most public female face of the party, Sarah Palin, never attended, women still made quite a showing at the event.  Although CPAC itself was filled with the usual suspects -- the mostly white, mostly male and mostly older, women played a much greater role in XPAC (Xtreme Politically Active Conservatives), a youth focused track sponsored by the main event, with nearly 25 percent of the participents being women.

Former Governor Mike Huckbee's daughter Sarah, one of the headliners of the event, discussed some of the hardships of being a woman in politics:

Asked if she had experienced sexism in politics, Sarah Huckabee told the audience said she hadn't encountered much hardship working as a political operative out of the public eye, quipping that "women can do a lot more than any man…We're naturally born multi-taskers."

While some male politicians fret over whether to go negative for a debate against female opponent for fear she'll be too sensitive, Huckabee retorted, "I'll be really honest: Women in politics? They're not all that sensitive. They're some of the strongest fighters that are out there

Huckabee did note there were double standards for women in the public eye.

"You would never see a news report or a newscast on Barack Obama's suit or his tie choice, but by God, we saw a lot about the clothes that Sarah Palin wore, the pantsuits that Hillary Clinton wears," she said "It ought to be focused on the policies that they're bringing. I don't care about the clothes Hillary Clinton wears but I do care about the policies that she's putting forth."

The women at XPAC seem to agree that women are paying more attention to politics as a key demographic making many of the household decisions both for themselves and their families, especially on issues like health care.  But many expressed concern that "the female movement has gone on towards feminism and liberalism and really taken the wrong track."

Nowhere was this more apparent than the "Pro-Life Women Leaders" panel hosted at the convention.  Representatives from Americans United for Life, Susan B. Anthony List, Focus on the Family, Live Action and Student's For Life gathered to discuss what they saw as their recent wins in the debate over abortion, ranging from the press attention from the Pam and Tim Tebow ad, throwing a wrench in the progress of health care reform, and attempting to shut down various Planned Parenthood clinics via misleading under cover stings.

That you can have one prominent conservative woman state that women are more engaged in the debate now that health care has become such an enormous issue, and then have a panel expressly crowing over victories in cutting off health care reform and shutting down community health clinics perhaps best epitomizes why "the female movement has gone on towards feminism and liberalism."   Until women in the conservative movement recognize that they are simply being used to put a kinder, gentler face on the harsh and repressive policies that the GOP choose to push in legislature, they will never be equals in the party.

No wonder Palin can only get 7 percent support in their presidential poll.