Opinion: Binders Full Of Women Is Only Tip Of Romney Anti-Women Iceberg
The first problem with Romney talking about binders full of women is that it is an incredibly odd phrase. According to TiVo it was the most re-watched moment of the debate.
The second problem with the "binders full of women" comment is that he used that example as a dodge to the question of if he supports equal pay for women. Romney clearly does not, but doesn't have the guts to say it.
The third problem with "binders full of women" is that it is another lie. Another example of Romnesia. An outside group that advocates for women prepared a book of resumes from qualified women for state jobs.
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Romney did not ask for it. But he needed it. Because hardly anyone that he had hired in his business life was female or a minority.
In 1994, Romney was forced to responded to questions about why so few minorities or women worked at Bain. Clearly these were not questions raised by others at the firm. All 95 vice presidents were white, just nine were women.
Romney claimed that there simply weren't any female applicants and said that private equity didn't "attract many women and minorities." A claim that is laughable on its face.
Romney's track record is to stick to the "white boys club" but clearly, with an eye on the White House, Romney knew that hiring numbers would be public.
Romney is lucky that people grabbed on to the "binders full of women" comment because his comment about giving his female Chief of Staff flex time so she could go home and cook dinner was mostly over looked.
As was the fact that he again dodged the question of his support for equal pay for women.
The final problem for Romney talking about "binders full of women" comes from the Tea Partiers he fears because that sounds an awful lot like affirmative action, doesn't it?
About Bill Buck
Bill Buck is a Democratic strategist, President of the Buck Communications Group, a media relations and new media strategies consulting business based in Washington, DC, and Managing Director of the online ad firm Influence DSP. He has over twenty years of international and national communications experience. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
