Let women fight the war on women

Let the women fight the war on women. That would be my advice to the GOP. After the primaries have run their course the Republicans may have 6 highly electable and in some cases downright charismatic women seeking a seat in the Senate. One is all but a slam dunk.

Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia should easily defeat Secretary of State Natalie Tennant. She leads Tennant by 14 points in both the latest PPP and Rasmussen polls. Capito is probably not destined to become your favorite senator but she will be a reliable Republican vote on most important issues. The Democrats were quick to write off this seat. Tennant was the eleventh candidate the Democrats tried to recruit. The first 10 declined to run.

Terri Lynn Land of Michigan may well be the most savvy candidate in the field. In 2002 she ran for Secretary of State and won,55%-43%, winning 75 of the state's 83 counties.She was reelected in 2006 winning 76 counties. Her opponent is Congressman Gary Peters who in addition to not having run a statewide race voted for Obamacare. Hoping to change the subject Peter shifted to the "war on women" cant which brought this rejoinder from Land. The RCP average of polls gives Land a .6% lead.

The Democrats are hoping to hold the seat of retiring Senator Tom Harkin but hoping may not be enough against one of the more exciting candidates of either gender the GOP has fielded since Sarah Palin. Joni Ernst is one tough women! The Harley riding Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa National Guard gained national attention with the catchy ad below. Today Ernst won the endorsement of the Senate Conservative Fund. She also enjoys the backing of Sarah Palin, who will headline a ShePAC "Heels On, Gloves Off!" rally in Des Moines, and Mitt Romney. Assuming she wins the state caucus she will face tort lawyer Rep. Bruce Braley who besides having voted for Obamacare was caught on video disparaging an "Iowa farmer who never went to law school", Senator Chuck Grassley. Not too clever in a state full of farmers who never went to law school.

Maybe the most contentious senate primary in the country pits state Senator Senator Julianne Ortman against "centrist" businessman Mike McFadden. There are 4 more contenders in the race but in the Republican straw poll Ortman won 31% of the vote while McFadden received 28%. This is trench warfare between the Tea Party and the establishment Republican Party. Tea Party frustration with McFadden's refusal to meet with them boiled up in the video below. Ortman enjoys the support of Sarah Palin and ShePAC. If Ortman prevails in Minnesota's arcane caucus she will face Senator Al Franken. Although the poll continue to show Franken to be the likely winner he has the advantage of running unopposed. When he defeated Norm Coleman he won by a mere 351 votes, some of them from dead people while Obama handily carried the state.

Karen Handel, despite support from ShePac, Sarah Palin and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who will be the featured speaker at a Monday rally remains a long shot to get her party's nomination. The former Georgia Secretary of State and former vice president of Susan G. Komen for the Cure who quit in protest when the organization resumed funding Planned Parenthood, is running last in a primary field that contains three sitting congressman and the leader, former Dollar General CEO David Perdue.

Dr. Monica Wehby, a Portland pediatric neurosurgeon will face state represenative Jason Conger for the chance to defeat incumbent Senator Jeff Merkley in Oregon. Conger voted with Democrats to establish Cover Oregon with the web site that failed to enroll a single applicant. Wehby is adamant in her opposition to Obamacare and has been since 2009. He second campaign ad, "Trust", posted below is awesome. Although she is a decided underdog to win in a state that has not elected a Republican to statewide office in over a decade I like her chances.