Four prominent leaders of women’s organizations held a conference call today, accompanied by Rep. Raul Grijalva, to demand the resignation of retired Sen. Alan Simpson as co-chair of the Deficit Commission. Their comments, together with a number of private conversations with women’s leaders, indicate that Simpson and his Commission could be an even greater political liability among women voters than most observers initially suspected.
Women represent a key constituency in every election. In 2008 53% of all voters were women, 56% of whom voted for Barack Obama (as opposed to 49% of males). So any issue that alienates women – and the organizations that mobilize and lead them – can be an enormous political liability. Simpson, and the Commission itself, are looking more and more like just such a liability.
