Women’s issues were at the forefront for the 2012 election. Between the contraception discussion and the shouts of abortion, it was almost as if it was an election in 1920. Even weeks after the election, women are still going to be an integral part of any future campaigns and elections.

According to a CNN exit poll, President Obama won 55 percent of women’s votes and the women made up about 54 percent of the total electorate. In total, the gender gap of the election was about 18 percent, even larger than 2008’s 12 percent gender gap.

This trend extended past the presidential race. All seven Republican male candidates who had controversial comments about rape lost their elections. The 113th Congress will have a historic total of 20 female Senators and 77 Congresswomen.

This election taught the Republicans an important lesson: you need the majority of women on your side to win.

Democrats said they got the majority because they protected the women from the Republican Party’s “war on women.” Republicans say they didn’t get the votes because women are voting on social issues only. However, women vote with more than their vagina. The lady part they vote with is their brain.

It is 2012, we should not be debating women’s rights. We should be past this. Women know better but the real question is, do Republican men?
When Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said that a woman’s body had a way of “shutting that whole thing down” during a “legitimate rape,” women knew that he was incorrect and offensive.
When Tom Smith (R-Pa.) compared having a baby out of wedlock to rape, women knew that the statement was a horrible comparison.

And when Mitt Romney said that he did not agree with women being paid the same amount as men, women knew that he was not the one to vote for.
It isn’t taking away a woman’s right to choose that makes her vote against the Republican Party. It isn’t even denying women the right to get equally paid. Women have trouble voting for Republicans because they make speeches about women but don’t talk to them directly.

The Republican Party obviously can’t retain women’s votes and that will lead to unwanted consequences down the road. It will be a horrible situation for the Republicans. Like Republican Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock said about pregnancies resulted from rape- maybe this result will be “something God intended.”