Jennifer Rubin: If you want more women in politics, don’t look to the GOP

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

The Pew Research Center has some interesting data on voters’ views about the gender gap in politics:

“Republicans and Democrats have widely different views about where things stand today and what factors are holding women back. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more than twice as likely as Republicans and those who lean Republican to say there are too few women in high political offices (79% vs. 33%). And while 64% of Democrats say gender discrimination is a major reason why women are underrepresented in these positions, only 30% of Republicans agree. …

“By 20 percentage points, Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts to say there are too few women in high political offices (44% of GOP women vs. 24% of GOP men) and in top executive positions in business (49% vs. 29%) in the U.S. today. And while most Republican women say it’s easier for men to get these positions, closer to half of GOP men say the same.”

As the Republican Party has shifted its focus from conservatism to white male grievance, these results are understandable. The Republican men who have swooned over President Donald Trump’s nostalgia for a bygone era (when women primarily stayed at home) are not about to see a need for more women in politics, nor are they prepared to say that there is something wrong with the system that produces a preponderance of men in business and political leadership.

What’s striking is the large majority of Americans (67 percent) who think it is easier for…

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