GOP Senate Candiate on VAWA: "I'm not sure what that is" As Missouri Republicans settle their question of who should stand to challenge Sen. Claire McCaskill, the state's Democratic Party has released a thirty-nine second video of GOP candidate and former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman at a campaign event, explaining that she does not know what the Violence Against Women Act is. Former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, a Republican now hoping to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), said recently that she was unfamiliar with the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the landmark anti-domestic violence legislation whose re-authorization is now stalled in the Senate. Senate Republicans are objecting to re-upping the 1994 law, which has already been extended several times, because of amendments that would extend protections for Native American women, gay victims, and others. A video released today by the Missouri Democratic Party shows a man asking Steelman about VAWA at a campaign event. Steelman replies, "I'm not sure what that is because I'm not serving right now." He asks again, "You haven't really heard about it?" And she confirms, "No, not really." (Seitz-Wald) In the video, which is posted within the ThinkProgress article, a man asks Steelman about the "woman's violence act, or something like that, that is working its way through the House". Steelman responds, "I'm not sure what that is, because I'm not serving right now." And then she asks, "What House? The Congress?" The man stumbles over the bill name, and a a woman fills in for him the phrase, "Violence Against Women Act". Steelman says she would have to look at the bill, and the man asks, "You haven't really heard about it?" Steelman responds, "No, not really." The incident only gets stranger if one tries to untangle the skein of backstory, but that miniature soap opera is best left for another day°. Rather, one wonders what is going on with Republicans. But even that question is a bizarre mess. For instance, does one start with the cynical notion that Republicans might offer a woman to appeal to female voters? Steelman led her Republican opponents in polls through January, and enjoys what appears to be a growing lead against incumbent Claire McCaskill. But it is still a long time to the August senate primary, opponent John Brunner has picked up the Chamber of Commerce endorsement, and now this video emerges. In a state like Missouri, Steelman's gaffe might not be so damaging in a conservative-leaning electorate. Still, though, this can't help the Republican cause in general when party leaders are pushing back against accusations of a political war against women. Bill Maher, in 2010, took aim at senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, Rep. Michelle Bachmann, and right-wing gadfly Sarah Palin by denouncing them as "the lovely milfs of the new right". They enjoyed popular support among white men, and Maher proposed that this is because they remind those men of "the traditional, idiot housewife". You know, cute, moronic, and willing to justify whatever their men want. That Sarah Steelman has wandered so blithely into the the role of dumb-woman Republican candidate might leave many twitching with confusion, but there is a reasonable chance that this will be a plus among Missouri voters. ____________________ Notes: ° another day — When the point starts with somebody, who is married to somebody else, who was once married to somebody else, who in turn was married to somebody else, we don't really need to delve into it yet; suffice to say that one might reasonably expect that domestic violence issues should not be so mysterious to a senate candidate in general, even more so one so closely connected to politics and political operatives. It seems almost impossible that Sarah Steelman would not know what VAWA is, simply based on the notion of how much political awareness should exist in that chain, and, furthermore, that the chain includes accusations of domestic violence—albeit not involving Sarah Steelman or her husband. Works Cited: Seitz-Wald, Alex. "Missouri GOP Senate Candidate 'Not Sure' What The Violence Against Women Act Is". ThinkProgress. April 23, 2012. ThinkProgress.org. April 24, 2012. http://thinkprogress.org/special/2012/04/23/469711/sarah-steelman-vawa/ See Also: Blow, Richard. "The True Character of a Spin Doctor?" Mother Jones. September/October, 1997. MotherJones.com. April 24, 2012. http://motherjones.com/politics/1997/09/true-character-spin-doctor
