The Republican War Against Women: An Insider's Report from Behind the Lines [Paperback]

Tanya Melich (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 5, 1998

In 1980, Republicans used appeals to sexist and racist bigotry to win the Presidency. The party adopted an electoral strategy that included getting votes by playing on the fear and uncertainty engendered by the civil rights and women's political movements, and continued to use this strategy in the campaigns of 1984, 1988, and 1992. Under the Reagan and Bush administrations, this strategy became a crucial part of the party's governing policies. This book is not a political science treatise nor a description of political campaigns; it is a documented account of a grab for power that, as the years pass, continues to intensify antagonism between the sexes and to sow unnecessary division among the American people. As a longtime Republican activist and a delegate to the 1992 convention, Tanya Melich has observed these actions from within; and documents this takeover and the Party's ongoing practices (such as embracing the Christian right) in a devastating, factual, and often hair-raising report. A combination of history, exposÄ, reasoned polemic, and call to arms, this book has now been enriched by two completely new chapters that assesses the outcome of the 1996 election in terms of the book's thesis and realistically lays out the future: both in terms of what it will be if the right-wing elements of the Republican party continue to set the agenda, and how it can be changed if centrist women (and men) take charge of that agenda. The heart of such change lies with Independents, who now constitute a startling 39 percent of Americans (31 percent identify themselves as Democrats and 30 percent as Republicans). We are not a country of strong party loyalties, and the enormous growth of independents is the signal that change is not only possible but achievable. As a superb political pro, the author offers hardheaded strategies for such change.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is the story of one woman's struggle with and defection from the Republican party. It's the story of the transition and (in the author's view) subjugation of a political party to a small group of extremists. She shares the inside information from her more than 25 years of active membership. Melich contends that the "party of Lincoln," the party that promoted choice and freedom for all, is gone.

From Library Journal

Melich, who has spent most of her political life as a Republican feminist, recounts 23 years of party politics that, she postulates, has fought against the women's movement and issues important to equal opportunity. She takes us through her struggles as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1968 and 1992, describing in painstaking detail every platform, rule, and committee meeting that resulted in documents rejecting the Equal Rights Amendment and calling for a constitutional ban on abortions. Clearly, from what Melich outlines, the Republican party was completely out of sync with her views, leaving one to ask why it took so long for her to leave the party (as she finally did in 1992). Her reasoning after each defeat was that she thought it would get better and that it was better that the GOP feminists work with, rather than against, the party to see if some ground could be gained. Although the book's alarmist title may turn some potential readers off, the text is not hyperbole but a step-by-step account of how the religious right and conservatives have taken control of the Republican party. Recommended for general and academic political science collection.
--Patricia Hatch, Emmanuel Coll. Lib., Boston
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Upd Sub edition (January 5, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553378163
• ISBN-13: 978-0553378160
• Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,017,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars In a word: Frustrating July 30, 2002

By David A. Bede VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I remember the moment when I knew George W. Bush would be our next president. It was late morning on Election Day 2000, and I saw an anchorwoman on television, interviewing a group of previously undecided, affluent women voters in a swing district near Chicago. One by one, all of them explained that they disagreed with Bush on abortion, but had decided to vote for him anyway. Most of them offered explanations to the effect of "I trust him not to be actively obstructionist against abortion rights." As we all know now, Bush betrayed that trust immediately after taking office, by reinstating the Mexico City Policy and appointing strident anti-feminist John Ashcroft to head the Justice Department. I can't help but wonder if those women in Chicago think their tax cuts are worth the backslide in social policy we've all got to endure until at least 2004 - if indeed they really were eligible for the tax cuts.

While reading Melich's book, I was reminded repeatedly of that newscast and the misplaced trust in right-wing politicians like Bush. I really wanted to love this book. After so many years of watching the mainstream media look the other way on all but the harshest Republican attacks on feminism and the vilification of that noble movement, an inside look at the party's growing intolerance from a female one-time Republican activist sounded to me like the perfect consciousness-raiser. And it is - to a degree. Melich's heart is undeniably in the right place, and I applaud her for writing the book. But I ultimately came away feeling that she, like the women I referred to above, remained loyal to the Republican party long past a time when she should have known better, and thus helped perpetuate the problem.

Melich, a GOP activist since the 1950s by her own account, relates page after page of her noble but clearly quixotic efforts to help carve out a voice for feminists in the party of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George "kick a little a__" Bush, even while supplying an equally abundant collection of tales that showed exactly where Republican leaders of that era stood with respect to women's issues. Melich's response, whether it was to Reagan refusing to even give feminists a place at the table in preparation for the 1980 convention or Bush questioning Geraldine Ferraro's emotional stability or Nelson Rockefeller's excommunication from the GOP because he supported the ERA, was invariably to "hope for the best from my party" until 1992. As she explains in both the opening and closing chapters of the book, she reached her breaking point that year in Houston, as did many socially progressive Republicans. The trouble is that there was really nothing new about that three-day celebration of bigotry; it was only the most blatant demonstration of the clout held by the religious right in the modern day Republican Party. If the rhetoric has been less overtly divisive before and since 1992, the party platform has not been. Melich often gives us the impression that she was aware of this on some level, but she never quite seems to grasp that by continuing to support the party in spite of her growing disillusionment, she contributed to the problem by sending politicians to Washington who then worked against the interests of all social progressives like her.

In addition to her inexplicable loyalty to the GOP, Melich's historical research is awfully sloppy for a lifelong political activist. Among the errors her editor failed to catch: Sam Ervin retired from the Senate in 1974, not 1976. Dan Quayle was a second-term congressman in 1980, not a first-termer. A number of western states gave women the vote prior to the passage of the nineteenth amendment in 1920, but Kansas was not among them, as Melich claims. Speaking of Kansas, Melich notes with approval the election of Democrat Joan Finney as that state's first woman governor in 1990; but five minutes' worth of research would have revealed that Finney was staunchly anti-choice on abortion and most feminists supported her male Republican opponent in that election. Given Melich's background, it is hard to believe she was unaware of that.

It is, of course, not reasonable to expect a book-length mea culpa, and Melich's familiarity with the overall subject matter can't be denied. (In all fairness, it must also be said that the Democrats don't have a sterling record from a feminist perspective either - but there IS more than a dime's worth of difference all the same.) If nothing else, this book is a worthwhile read from an authoritative source for appreciating the sheer depth and history of reactionary sentiment in the Republican Party with respect to gender issues, especially abortion. But the last election demonstrated that some feminists haven't learned the lesson Melich tries to teach here; and I'm not entirely convinced that Melich herself has either.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfull reality check April 1, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I was in junior high when the infamous 1992 convention rolled into Houston, and seeing all of the hate on TV was very scary.Although my parents were not political, they were opposed to the religious right's agenda.....We became staunch Clinton advocates that year, and do not regret a minute of it.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Review from Someone on the Other Side of the Lines February 6, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

As a bookstore employee, I see more books than I have time to read. When I saw Ms. Melich's book, I was immediately interested. I was surprised by the title, coming from a woman who has been a Republican for so many years. As a Democrat, I was anticipating a book full of mere justifications from a woman who would voluntarily be a Republican. After reading the first paragraph, I knew I would insist that all women I know should read this book. The book is, at times, very dense reading as I had to stop every few lines to tell someone how passionate I felt about the situations Melich describes. I admire her fight. Although she may not subscribe to the same political philosophy as I do, she has fought the good fight against the establishment. To conclude, I placed the book on our "What We're Reading" shelf at the bookstore. We sold quite a few. Many times, however, I would walk by and notice the book had been turned over to hide the cover. Some people refuse to face reality