Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina Prove Republican War on Women is a Myth

Radio host Leslie Marshall asserted that Republicans continued their war on women on Bill O'Reilly's April 19 show, and if the biggest issues for women are free birth control pills for church employees and staying on their parents' healthcare until age 26, maybe Marshall is right. But in other areas, like nominating women for office, including them in leadership, and recognizing high-achievers, the Republicans are doing well.

I became re-involved in politics in 2010 when I learned Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, was running for Senate in California. I admired Fiorina for her achievements as a CEO and philanthropist. Long before she ran for office, she gave millions to women to start their own businesses in the U.S., Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. Meg Whitman, another Fortune 500 CEO, also ran as a Republican in 2010, and while she was not a strong campaigner, she did create a complete plan to resolve California's serious financial problems.

I looked up to Fiorina and Whitman based on my perspective as a top female income earner, with 15 years as an executive and officer on numerous charitable boards. I knew how challenging it was to balance three different careers and the important parts of my life: family and friends. 

Here we are in 2012, and to my surprise, I learned from President Obama that neither Whitman, Fiorina nor even a spazz like me could have accomplished anything without the type of government help that Julia has. I didn't get what Julia got, but even so, things have gotten so bad for women due to Republican attacks that President Obama was required to speak to Democrat women -- about women -- at their Leadership Forum in April. 

According to the President, "The days of male politicians controlling the health care decisions of our wives and our mothers and our daughters and our sisters, that needs to come to an end." It was nice of him to deliver that message. I guess he had no choice, as it seems that the female Cabinet secretaries were too busy to talk to women at the conference, especially Secretaries Clinton and Sebelius. House Minority Leader Pelosi was all tied up, too. 

I wonder if a woman can run a Fortune 500 company like eBay, Hewlett-Packard, or one of America's highest-impact charities, Goods360 (formerly Gifts In Kind), she could pay for birth control prescriptions on her own. She might even be able to come up with good ideas for other women -- and men!

Democrat women? Apparently, it's more difficult, but President Obama has them covered.