Mitt Missed Chance to Rail Against Rush: Margaret Carlson

March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Blame Rush Limbaugh if you want --and I will, later, at the risk of being “Fluked” -- for theuproar over contraception. But the real culprit is theleadership of the Republican Party, which snatched defeat (theBlunt amendment, which would have let any boss decide whatinsurance coverage suits his conscience) from the jaws ofvictory (the president’s compromise with Catholic bishops oversuch coverage).

You have to wonder if the party that has been obsessed withlady parts for the better part of a month can bring enough womenand independents home in November to beat President BarackObama. Almost 70 percent of those surveyed in the most recentNBC/Wall Street Journal poll -- taken Feb. 29 to March 5, whenthere were no debates except the one over contraception --called themselves “unenthusiastic,” “discouraged” and“disappointed” by the Republicans. Republican pollster BillMcInturff calls the last month “corrosive.”