Romney’s Strategy

Romney’s Strategy Gaining Female Votes OpEd Analysis Taylor Bondy, Nadia Schutt, Kenzie Espinoza-Finch, Cassie Graves Period 2, Group 4

Vocab & Allusions • Republican National Convention (RNC): The presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S. presidential election, and to adopt the party platform and rules for the election cycle. • Repudiated: Refuse to accept or be associated with. • Paramount: More important than anything else; supreme • Staunch: Loyal and committed in attitude • Big tent party: a political party seeking to attract people with diverse viewpoints • Alienate: Cause (someone) to feel isolated or estranged • Perpetuate: Make (something, typically an undesirable situation or an unfounded belief) continue indefinitely

Vocab & Allusions (cont.) • Inroads: Progress; an advance • Unfettered: Release from restraint or inhibition • Mitigate: To lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of • Vigorously: Forcefully • Timidly: showing fear and lack of confidence • Disassociate: part; cease or break association with • Reiterate: To say something again or a number of times, typically for emphasis or clarity • GOP platform: The GOP platform is a list of fundamental principles and/or positions on issues of the day. It serves as an outline of where the party stands, and ideally guides the candidates and members of the political party.

Vocab & Allusions (cont.) • Condoleezza Rice: Served on the National Security Council as the Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor to President George H.W. Bush. She served was the second woman to serve as United States Secretary of State, under the administration of President George W. Bush and was President Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term. • Susana Martinez: The 31st and current Governor of New Mexico Martinez. She is a Republican and is the first female governor of New Mexico. • Kelly Ayotte: United States Senator from New Hampshire and a member of the Republican Party. she also served as the Attorney General of New Hampshire.

Persona • Woman – Background info: “[She] is a Republican senator from Maine” (2). • Well educated, politically – Uses words usually heard in politics. – Republican National Convention, Big Tent Party, GOP platform, Medicare, Social Security, National Institutes of health, child support, and pension reform. Republican – “This is not where I hoped my party would be in 2012. Today, the Republican Party faces a clear challenge: will we rebuild our relationship with women, thereby placing us on the road to success in November, or will we continue to isolate them and certainly lose this election" (1).

Audience • This article was written for: – The Republican party & its candidates • “At the convention, Romney must work ... and he must restore the image of who we are as Republicans" (1). – Romney specifically • "He should also emphasize his strong record ... cares about their well-being" (1). –Well-educated people/politically interested public • Elevated level of diction, distinguished vocabulary • Written for The Washington Post • "He will be off to a good start when former secretary of state ... ticket is right for women in this election" (1).

Purpose There are two purposes to this article: • To assert: The author tells the audience her opinion of what Mitt Romney should do in order to gain the support of female voters: “he must”, “he should”, “Romney must”, “Romney should.” • To prevail: The author, a republican, gives Romney ideas of how to go about gaining female support in hopes that the republican party wins the upcoming election. *The central goal of this argument is to assert while to prevail is more of an underlying goal to be achieved later.

Central Argument • Main claim: Romney should focus on and reach out to women voters by addressing issues important to women such as: abortion, sex offenders, being capable of supporting their family, Medicare and Social Security, and overall connect with women. • Thesis: "He must demonstrate that he would follow the example of other Republican presidents in addressing issues important to women. He must speak concisely and directly about how he's going to get our country moving again. Indeed, given the recent controversies, he must reach out to women to reassure them that he understands their reality and to show them that his agenda is in their best interest" (2).

Structure of Argument • She uses a critical tone to emphasize the seriousness of the matter. The structure is organized into three parts (beginning, middle, end): 1) She starts by stating what is currently going on in the Republican campaign: “...perception that we in the Republican Party are unsympathetic to issues of paramount concern to women” (1). 2) She then explains that Romney needs to strive to change this perception in order to gain the support of women voters: “Will we rebuild our relationship with women, [placing] us on the road to [success], or will we continue to isolate them and [lose] this election?” (1). 3) Lastly, she explains what Romney needs to do in order to gain this support: "Romney must work to overcome what others in our party have done to undermine our standing with women" (1). • The overall message is that Romney needs to work to gain women votes and restore the image of Republicans.

Diction & Tone • Elevated level of diction, distinguished vocabulary, formal register • The author uses phrases such as “he must”, “he should”, “Romney must”, “Romney should” to emphasize the importance of what she is saying. These phrases appear several times throughout the article. • The tone of this article is determined and serious, consistent throughout

Syntax & Overall Structure • Explicit thesis, placed in the last paragraph of the article • Effective alterations with sentence length/complexity • Repetition with the phrase "He must..." throughout the passage, specifically the last paragraph – Syntactic schemes used: Anaphora • We learn Snowe's opinion about how the Republican Party can do a better job of gaining female voters

Discussion Questions 1. If you were running Mitt Romney's campaign, what suggestions would you make to help him increase his credibility with women? 2. How can Olympia Snowe and other female Republican senators and congresswomen help bridge the gap between their Party and women voters? 3. Historically, what are some of the factors that led to women being taken seriously as a voting bloc by candidates?

Works Cited • Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc., Web. 3 September 2012. • Dictionary.com. 2012. Web. 3 September 2012. • Pew Research Center. 4 September 2012. Web. 3 September 2012.

Romney’s Strategy