GOP policies-- dangerously wrong

..................................................................................................................................
Romney accuses Obama of engaging in 'low' politics
By DAVID ESPO, August 26, 2012

His Republican National Convention curtailed by a threatened hurricane, Mitt Romney conceded Sunday that fresh controversy over rape and abortion is harming his party and he accused Democrats of trying to exploit it for political gain.

"It really is sad, isn't it, with all the issues that America faces, for the Obama campaign to continue to stoop to such a low level," said Romney, struggling to sharpen the presidential election focus instead on a weak economy and 8.3 percent national unemployment.

[snipped]

Polls make the race a close one, with a modest advantage for President Barack Obama.

For all the Republican attempts to make the election a referendum on the incumbent's handling of the economy, other events have intervened.

An incendiary comment more than a week ago by Rep. Todd Akin, the party's candidate for a Senate seat in Missouri, is among the intrusions. In an interview, he said a woman's body has a way of preventing pregnancy in the case of a "legitimate rape." The claim is unsupported by medical evidence, and the congressman quickly apologized.

Romney and other party officials, recognizing a political threat, unsuccessfully sought to persuade Akin to quit the race. Democrats have latched onto the controversy, noting not only what Akin said but also his opposition to abortion in all cases.

"Now, Akin's choice of words isn't the real issue here. The real issue is a Republican Party - led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan - whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong," said a recent letter from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party.

The party also posted a Web video that emphasizes the Republican Party's opposition to abortion and digitally alters the Republicans'"Romney-Ryan" logo to say "Romney Ryan Akin."

Interviewed on Fox, his comments broadcast on Sunday, Romney said the controversy over Akin "hurts our party and I think is damaging to women."

[snipped]

In a presidential race defined by its closeness, Republican office-holders past and present said the party must find a way to appeal to women and Hispanics, and they said the economy was the way to do it.

"We have to point out that the unemployment rate among young women is now 16 percent, that the unemployment rate among Hispanics is very high, that jobs and the economy are more important, perhaps, than maybe other issues," said Arizona Sen. John McCain, who lost to Obama in 2008.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush agreed, saying that Romney "can make inroads if he focuses on how do we create a climate of job creation and economic growth." If he succeeds, "I think people will move back towards the Republican side," Bush added.

Obama leads Romney among women voters and by an overwhelming margin among Hispanics, but he trails substantially among men.

The result is a race that is unpredictably close, to be settled in a small number of battleground states.

Making his case for the support of female voters, Romney said in the Fox interview: "'Look, I'm the guy that was able to get health care for all of the women and men in my state. ... 'I'm very proud of what we did."

It was a rare voluntary reference to the legislation he signed as governor of Massachusetts that required the state's residents to purchase coverage, the sort of mandate that is at the heart of Obama's federal legislation that conservatives oppose and Romney has vowed to see repealed.

[snipped]

..................................................................................................................................