A congressional candidate in upstate New York is promoting American soap operas as a tool to educate women and curb population growth in developing countries.

“Brazil is a great example of not why, but how population is changing, and it is through soap operas,” Democrat Tedra Cobb said at an April 30 forum.

“It is because more people are watching TV, and women are watching soap operas and are educated, and are having fewer children, on the soap operas and in fact [the real women] are having fewer children because of them. It’s called soft power,” said Cobb, who is running against two-term GOP incumbent Elise Stefanik in the North Country’s 21st congressional district.

Cobb added: “Does anyone remember Dallas?” — referring to the popular prime time TV soap opera in the 1980s. “All over the world people watched Dallas.”

National Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Chris Martin responded, “This is just the latest bizarre proposal from the worst candidate in the country. No wonder Tedra Cobb is so fixated on TV dramas: her campaign has become one.”

But the Cobb campaign stood by her “soap opera” remarks and said team Stefanik’s focus on them smacked of desperation.

“Elise Stefanik cannot win reelection by talking about her voting record …” said Cobb spokesman Brian Phillips. “She’s made some bad mistakes and cannot see a way out. We get it. Soap operas in Brazil is a better topic for Elise Stefanik than healthcare in northern New York.”