GOP women defend party against 'anti-women' charge

An early skirmish for women's votes in 2012 has broken out in the House — among women. A prominent Democrat fired the first shot by claiming that majority Republicans are waging a "war on women." And now, Republican women are returning fire by raising their profiles, making clear what they stand for and, implicitly, who they are not: Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Neither of the GOP's most visible women rated a mention by a series of House Republican women who on Tuesday defended their party against Democrats. Bachmann, a three-term congresswoman, presidential candidate and chairwoman of the Tea Party Caucus, was not among the speakers on the House floor. Those who did described themselves as every-women who run businesses, farms and families and wove their life stories into a broader narrative designed to help the GOP hang onto its gains among females in the 2010 elections.