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 Kelly, a debate moderator, grilled Trump on his history of
debasing statements about women. Trump appeared unapologetic,
dismissing the critique as “political correctness,” and accused
Kelly of mistreating him.
Democrats were quick to try and seize advantage. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, ripped
Trump’s comments as “disgusting and misogynistic” and assailed those
in the debate audience who applauded him.
The negative attention given Trump’s attitudes toward women came
just as the party was basking in the glow of former Hewlett-Packard
CEO Carly Fiorina’s strong performance at the earlier presidential
debate, the so-called “undercard” for candidates who failed to
qualify for the main contest.
Fiorina, the only woman in the field of 17 Republican candidates,
was almost universally viewed as the winner of the early debate,
breathing new life into her campaign in the process.
 “She hit it out of the ballpark,” said Penny Nance, the president
and CEO of Conservative Women for America, a Republican advocacy
group.
Nance was less kind to Trump, who "clearly has a woman problem.”
Polls bear that out. A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted last month
showed that the billionaire' s base of support is overwhelmingly
male when compared to the Republican electorate as a whole. More
than 60 percent of Trump’s supporters are men. By contrast, former
Florida Governor Jeb Bush attracts support from both genders in
equal amounts, the survey found.
Trump was busy doing damage control on Friday, telling ABC’s Good
Morning America that he didn’t agree with Kelly’s assertions and
calling her questions “unfair.”
BUSH'S COMMENTS "FOOLISH"
Bush, too, had problems of his own in the days before the debate,
when he clumsily told a conference that the U.S. government was
spending too much on women’s health. He said later he misspoke but
the damage was already done.
The remark was tailor-made to buttress the longstanding Democratic
Party argument that Republicans are tone deaf when it comes to
women’s issues. After her debate on Thursday, Fiorina said Bush’s
comments were "foolish" and had played into Democratic frontrunner
Hillary Clinton’s hands.
 Democrats have been accusing Republicans of conducting a so-called
“war on women” for years. During the 2012 presidential campaign,
then-Representative Todd Akin of Missouri asserted that victims of
“legitimate rape” rarely became pregnant. That ignited a political
brushfire that party leaders struggled to extinguish.
In that election, women made up 53 percent of voters, casting 64
million ballots. They went for President Barack Obama over
Republican nominee Mitt Romney by 12 percentage points.
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Republican Party operatives have been furiously trying to improve
outreach to women — particularly young, single women - ever since.
The controversy over videos surreptitiously showing officials at
women's health group and abortion provider Planned Parenthood
discussing the sale of fetal organs has also given conservatives new
hope that they can use public outrage to blunt the Democratic
advantage with women voters.
Trump and Bush’s missteps didn’t aid that effort. Democrats also
gleefully focused on two other candidates at the debate, Florida
Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who said
they didn’t believe abortions should be legal even in cases of rape
and incest.
Fiorina, if she can become a viable candidate, could help
Republicans attract new women voters, said Kellyanne Conway, a
Republican pollster and strategist. Women could find her biography,
including her stint as Hewlett-Packard chief, compelling.
“Going from secretary to CEO is a very creatable story that makes
you think this, too, is the 'American Dream,'” Conway said.
Still, most polls have had Fiorina mired at around 1 percent,
although Conway expects her standing to improve after Thursday's
debate.
Fiorina wasted no time on Friday condemning Trump’s remarks.
“No one who claims to represent our party should ever be judgmental
in tone or vitriolic or angry,” Fiorina said in an interview with
CNN. “I just think it’s inappropriate to call people names.”
(Reporting by James Oliphant, editing by Ross Colvin)
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reserved.]
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