From Hillary Clinton’s big economic speech today: “Now, you may have heard Governor Bush say Americans just need to work longer hours. Well, he must not have met very many American workers. Let him tell that to the nurse who stands on her feet all day, or the teacher who in that classroom or the trucker who drives all night. Let him tell that to the fast-food worker marching in the streets for better pay. They do not need a lecture. They need a raise.”
From just a little bit earlier in the speech: “The movement of women into the American workforce over the past 40 years was responsible for more than $3.5 trillion in economic growth. But that progress has stalled. The United States used to rank 7th out of 24 advanced countries in women’s labor force participation. By 2013, we had dropped to 19th. That represents a lot of unused potential for our economy and for American families.”
Clinton doesn’t want to force women to join the paid labor force, of course; she wants to make it easier for them to do so. But that’s what Bush was saying, too, about men and women. If it’s fair game to distort his words, it’s fair game for the Republicans to say: Hey, Secretary Clinton, the stay-at-home moms of America don’t need a lecture from you.