April 11, 2012 10:32 PM UTC

Romney Camp Misfires Badly on Women's Pay Equity

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

CNN–aren’t we supposed to be done with the Etch-a-Sketch moments?

The Mitt Romney campaign’s failure to answer a reporter’s question Wednesday over the support of an equal-pay for women law was quickly pounced on by President Barack Obama’s campaign, marking the first skirmish of the general election now that Romney is the apparent GOP nominee.

On a conference call with reporters, Romney campaign surrogates were asked if the candidate supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act that expands workers’ rights to sue if a pay discrepancy between a man and woman exists.

The reply: “We’ll get back to you on that,” Romney Campaign Policy Director Lanhee Chen said.

Apparently somebody in Mitt Romney’s campaign replied on background soon after that he “supports pay equity and is not looking to change current law,” but it’s a bit late. We got this release a short while ago from the Barack Obama reelection campaign’s Colorado office:

“When asked whether he supports the concept of ‘personhood’, Mitt Romney didn’t skip a beat in saying ‘absolutely.’ But when it comes to the simple idea of equal pay for equal work, his campaign said he has to ‘think’ about it before offering another empty answer. Romney’s reluctance on the Lilly Ledbetter Act – which President Obama signed into law – makes it clear that he is out-of-touch with Colorado women and can’t be trusted to stand up for working families,” said former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky.

“President Obama took decisive action at the outset of his Administration to sign the long-overdue Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and help ensure women get equal pay for equal work. Contrast this to Mitt Romney, who waffled and stumbled his way to another empty response. This isn’t just a women’s issue – it’s an issue of economic security, and Mitt Romney needs to come clean on exactly where he stands,” said State Representative Crisanta Duran.  

Folks, it’s important to remember that this began as a conference call highlighting how “bad” Obama’s presidency has been for women! Unfortunately, leaving out the very first bill Obama signed into law as President to protect pay equity for women–and not even knowing what your candidate’s position is on said law–is a sure way to look really stupid in that pursuit.