On Wednesday, Sandra Fluke will introduce President Obama on the trail in Colorado, part of the campaign’s renewed focus on women’s issues.
On a conference call with reporters Tuesday, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was unmoved by Fluke’s return to the political spotlight.
“Obviously it’s her right to do what she wants but at the end of the day in Colorado this election is going to come down to the economy and whether or not this president fulfilled the mission in regard to jobs, the debt, the deficit,” Priebus said.
Fluke, who became a household name after Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut” for advocating greater access to contraception coverage, is just one weapon the Obama campaign is using to return to women’s issues, which became a centerpiece of the campaign earlier this year. The president’s campaign is blanketing Colorado and other swing states with an ad focused on Romney’s plan to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Nationally polls show Obama with a big lead among women. In Colorado, where Fluke is introducing Obama, the president leads Romney among women by 12 points.
The president is hoping to leverage that advantage on Election Day, and his campaign hopes Fluke and other reminders of the vitriolic conservative language from the height of the contraception fight earlier this year will help drive women to the polls for Obama.
Priebus says he’s not worried about Fluke, dismissing the idea that she can be used as a figurehead for the “war on women” fight Democrats appear ready to re-litigate.
“If that’s what he wants to do that’s fine,” he said. “Women are worse off under this president than when President Obama took office. There’s never been a day in Barack Obama’s life when he’s woken up in the morning and there have been more women employed under his presidency than the president before him. That is the opposite of what he promised, and he’s going to have to defend it.”
