A pill for those pesky women's issues.

• Author: Green, Joshua
• Position: TILTING at windmills

Back to the GOP's problem with women. Or, really, women's problem with the GOP. Most of the attention surrounding the midterm elections has dwelled on the question of how large the Republican gains will be. Will they add to their margin in the House? Will they gain enough seats to take control of the Senate or just pick up four or five? Since I'm writing before the election, I don't know the answer. But one thing that fascinates me is the sudden endorsement by several Republican Senate candidates of making birth control pills available over the counter. In Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado--each of them swing states--Republicans who oppose abortion have suddenly felt moved to speak out about their desire to liberalize women's access to contraception.

There's no mystery about what's driving this odd trend. Republicans remain exceptionally unpopular with women, especially unmarried women. Shouldn't this be bigger news? The lesson Republicans say they drew from the 2012 election is that they cannot afford to alienate women by nominating extremists like Missouri's Senate candidate Todd Akin, who endorsed the idea of "legitimate rape," and Indiana's Richard Mourdock, who shared his belief that rape is something "God intended to happen." After the election, Republicans actually started a school to teach candidates how to speak to women. ("Gather round, class! Today we'll learn how not to say appalling things about rape ...")

Here's the thing: Republicans succeeded in sidelining the whackos this cycle. There are no Akins or Mourdocks poisoning the party's image. The Senate candidates in Colorado, Virginia, and North Carolina are all fit for polite company. In fact, Colorado's nominee, Representative Cory Gardner, is considered one of the brightest young lights in his party. Yet a September 7th NBC News/Marist poll found him trailing his Democratic opponent by twenty-nine points among single women. The same week, Gardner launched a new ad touting his enlightened position on birth control.

Democrats are doing all they can to exploit these troubles. In the New York Times recently, Jonathan Martin noted, "After a generation of campaigns in which Republicans exploited wedge issues to win close elections, Democrats are now on the offensive in the culture wars." Colorado is a prime example. One reason Gardner is struggling with single women is that his Democratic opponent, Senator Mark Udall, has mercilessly criticized him for wanting to outlaw...