The Republican War Against Women An Insider s Report from Behind the Lines

As the countdown to the 1996 presidential election gets under way, theposition of the Republican Party seems stronger than ever. It controls boththe House and the Senate. It responded to the nation's call for change in 1994and has a highly visible spokesman for that change in the Speaker of the House.But in 1996 should it have your vote? That is the question that Republicaninsider Tanya Melich poses as she unmasks the national GOP's twenty-yearhistory of hypocrisy toward women; as she challenges its deliberatelyorchestrated slide away from centrist policies; and as she reveals how theparty's national leadership, pressed by the religious right, has adopted adivisive strategy that intentionally exploits antifeminist fears to garnervotes.

An impassioned call to arms to Republicans and to all Americans to reject theextremist social agenda that dominates the party, this is a book sure to setoff a firestorm of debate across the land.

A lifelong Republican, for over a quarter century Tanya Melich has been anactive and loyal player in her party's politics. But as a delegate to the 1992presidential convention, Melich found herself angered and disillusioned by thedirection her party had taken. Suddenly it was apparent that the Grand OldParty had ceded control to right-wing zealots whose purpose was to intensifyhostility between the sexes and sow division among the American people.

Now, in this authoritative, closely reasoned, and often shocking book, Melichcites chapter, verse, and the actions of participants to document the ways inwhich the Reagan and Bush administrations moved to curtail abortion, family andchild-care programs, and policies to help women gain equal opportunity;howthey skewed the appointments of women in the administration and in partyleadership; and how they appealed to sexist and racist bigotry to win votes.She also shows how frighteningly effective this calculated strategy proved tobe in the 1994 midterm elections, which not only validated its effectivenessbut reinforced the direction the party is likely to take in the 1996presidential campaign.

As America hurtles toward the twenty-first century, "the Republican WarAgainst Women" is a challenge to centrists of all persuasions--from Perotvoters of 1992 to pro-choice Republicans, and from fiscally conservativeDemocrats to politically alienated independents to reject the politics ofextremism and divisiveness and take back the party from its bigoted powerbrokers. A book whose urgency no political strategist can afford to ignore andno concerned American voter will want to rniss, its contribution to thenation's political discourse--in 1996 and beyond--is both dramatic andprofound.