Politics

McMorris Rodgers: ‘Democrats are waging a war on reality’

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Republicans might have 99 problems, but they say America’s women ain’t one.

Democrats and their supporters have been fundraising, campaigning and lobbying on the idea that Republicans are engaged in a “war on women.”

The vice chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, however, alleges that it is the Democrats who are “waging a war on reality.”

“Democrats know that Republicans won the women’s vote in 2010,” Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in an interview with The Daily Caller. “It was the first time in modern history that Republicans won the women’s vote and the Democrats know that in order to win the presidency, in order to win the House or the Senate, they can’t let that stand. They are desperate and they are manufacturing this war on women. It’s a hoax.”

McMorris Rodgers, a contender for the GOP vice presidential slot, believes that the entire premise of the “war on women” is to distract Americans from the real issues — namely, the economy, gas prices and Obamacare.

“What I see happening today is that the Democrats are losing their argument because women are looking at a whole host of issues,” she said. “They’re looking at these economic issues, they’re looking at the health care issues, they’re looking at this debt — the record debt this president has accumulated and is passing on to our children, our grandchildren — and what that means for the future of this country, and they are very concerned. And that’s what’s really scary, and that’s why for them to be manufacturing this war on women, I really believe that the Democrats are waging a war on reality.”

While Democrats say they are concerned that the Republican agenda will harm women’s reproductive rights and access to health care, McMorris Rodgers believes that women are actually making political decisions based less on reproductive rights and government health care and more on the economy, gas prices and opposition to Obamacare.

“[W]omen make 85 percent of the health care decisions in America for themselves, their spouses and their families, and they are scared over the idea of the federal government taking that ability away from them,” she said, adding that with women currently starting two out of every three businesses in America, “they understand regulations, they understand taxes, they understand how all of that is impacting their ability to start a business, grow a business.”

While McMorris Rodgers has been at the forefront of confronting and answering the “war on women” narrative — which she says the media, especially the Washington Post, has significantly inflated — chatter remains about her prospects to be the next candidate for the vice presidency.

McMorris Rodgers, who endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in December and serves as the Romney for President Washington state chairwoman, remains coy about the possibility.

“I’m really focused on my responsibilities here in Congress and being the best representative that I can be for the people of eastern Washington,” she said. “I do believe that this is a really important election. It’s way too early to speculate. I really don’t expect to get a call like that.”

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Caroline May