How Could a Woman Support Nikki Haley and the Republican Party?

Amidst talk of the GOP's "war on women," is it possible for a woman to support the Republican Party?

According to the National Federation of Republican Women, "women have played a key role in the Republican Party since its establishment in 1854." The National Federation of Republican Women offers campaign management schools, an election resource center, a comprehensive advocacy program, an official female candidate recruitment program, a leadership development and mentoring program, conventions, meetings and seminars bringing Republican women together, and community service opportunities (including Caring for America and Support Our Troops volunteer programs).

By contrast, according to the Democratic Party Women's Leadership Forum, the organization was founded in 1993 and "aims to raise money as a tool to support the President's agenda." Most of the web page is comprised of articles attacking male Republican legislators. The DNC Women's Institute is chaired by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, also DNC National Party Chair, and its stated purpose is "Leading up to the 2012 elections, the Institute will support, complement, and expand efforts to elect all Democrats and enhance the Obama for America campaign's Women for Obama program." There are no programs, information on history, scholarships or internships, or literacy programs offered. A classy touch on the DNC Women's Leadership Forum is an article titled "Bless Mitt Romney's Li'l Heart."

I was born to be a Republican woman, a fifth-generation Republican from a family that became Republican during the Civil War because of President Lincoln, the first Republican President. The Republican Party also stood for women's suffrage during that more than seven-decade campaign. My father's mother, on the other side, was one of the six founding members of the American Communist Party. My entire family set the path for me, paid their dues, and built the fabric of this nation, so I, and my daughter, and succeeding generations, could make my own decisions and choices. 

I am a single mother, a survivor of sexual assault, and I've achieved success in not one, but three male-dominated professions: science fiction writing; college teaching and academic scholarship; and business development and funding. 

I stand with Susana Martinez, Nikki Haley, Condoleeza Rice, Elaine Chao, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Shelley Steele, and hundreds of others who have run for, and achieved, elective office and performed public service, not as lifelong professional politicians serving into their 80s with no other jobs, but rather as citizen legislators or officials who have other professional and personal lives and who are glad to return to them once their service is complete. If men and surrogate females call these women names for daring to speak their minds in public, then I am glad to be called the same by association. Being called a bad name isn't much compared to the sacrifice made by all of our American troops, and the sacrifice made the first Republican president to keep the Union whole and provide freedom to African-Americans. It isn't anything compared to President Nixon's stepping down for the good of the nation, or to the courage and good cheer in leadership that President Reagan, called crazy, senile, dangerous, and accused of being a monster who wanted to destroy the world, showed on a daily basis for his eight years as president.

Based on what I've read, those who want to give cash to President Obama's re-election campaign and oppose the party hegemony are not welcomed as Democratic women.

Yes, it's about values and character. There is no advertisement in the world or television commentator who will make me part with my dollars, or my vote. That choice is mine.

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