Eight-term California Rep. Mary Bono Mack, among the most prominent women in the GOP, has a message for the Republicans: They stink at communicating to women voters.
At an awards dinner Wednesday hosted by the Independent Women's Forum, Bono Mack bluntly stated what a lot of Republicans already know as they try to fend off President Obama's charge that the party is operating a "war on women."
She said, "You would think that I would argue with you about the conservative movement being clueless with talking to women, but I cannot argue with you because I agree with you." Women, she said, are different from men and communications have to be adjusted, preferably by women.
"I think that we are missing the boat. When you want to talk to women you must start by recognizing women are intuitive," she said. "Woman are so much more complicated than men are and a lot more has to go into communicating with the women of American. And we need to focus on that."
The forum promotes conservative economic and limited government issues to women, issues Bono Mack also handles with her House Republican Women's Policy Committee.
She hit Democrats who have "dumbed down women's issues. It's not solely about contraception and reproductive rights. Women want an awfully lot more."
At the event held in the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Bono Mack received the "Women of Valor" award given in the honor of Barbara Olson, a founder of the 20-year-old Independent Women's Forum who died on the jet that terrorists slammed into the Pentagon on 9/11.
"Our mission, to effectively speak to women, has just begun," said Bono Mack. "This election proves that the women of America are the future of America. I pledge to you my continued support. I need your support. Women need a voice in leadership to talk about what's important to them and we need women to stand behind the women who do that.
"As mothers, grandmothers, daughters, wives and sisters, we offer a fresh perspective and will work together to propel common sense solutions that will get America back to work and revitalize our economy."
