Oh, Republicans. Can you actually be serious about this? You mean Demon Sheeptress Carly Fiorina isn't being felt by women in your party? Color me so unsurprised.

“For years now, Democrats have been saying: We are focused on women in the workplace,” said Schaeffer, executive director of the Independent Women’s Forum, a nonprofit organization that promotes conservative policies. “For whatever reason, Republicans keep ignoring these issues. It’s the absolute worst thing they can do. They need to understand, engage and offer better solutions. They can’t be afraid.” Schaeffer is among a chorus of conservatives who have grown frustrated — and increasingly vocal — about the lack of proposals from GOP candidates that could help reverse this exodus of swing voters from the party.

What's interesting about this story isn't the cluelessness of the Party of No. What's interesting is the battleground within the GOP. On the one side, you have the Independent Women's Forum, which is a project of the Kochs and hedge fund billionaires. And on the currently winning side, you have the American Taliban, represented by the fundamentalist Christian wing of the party.

But some Republican strategists say that many of the candidates are planning to wait until after the primary to take up such ideas, so as to not prematurely alienate social conservatives who think families are better off when one parent stays home. That has dismayed some in the party who view the matter as urgent, especially with Hillary Rodham Clinton looming as the likely Democratic nominee.

Hoist by their own petard there, I think. When you sell your soul, the votes go right along with it.

Let's get real. When you refuse to pass a simple bill requiring equal pay for women for equal work, do you really expect kudos from the working women who get screwed by that?

When you consistently send a message to women that they aren't your first priority, they respond in kind.

When you tell women you want to take their health care -- health care they finally were able to get -- away from them, they respond accordingly.

No group was harmed more than women when the economy fell apart, yet Republicans in GOP majority states didn't give them a hand up. Instead they cut their lifelines and called them moochers.

So no, Republicans. Don't expect to garner the support of working moms when you preach small government while shoving an ultrasound wand into them as a government mandate.

It does make for a giggle on a hot Saturday, though. The depth of delusion runs deep. For example:

“The more Republican position is: There is only so much employers can bear before they stop hiring people and before the economy starts to suffer,” said Gage, a former Romney strategist. “Democrats are always going to hand out more tax dollars. But what is the breaking point?”

Oh, Katie Packer Gage, get real. Employers are already not hiring people. Haven't you heard of the whole "sharing economy" and independent contractor scheme?

But Carly will save the day, ladies.

Only a few Republican presidential candidates so far have rallied for workplace policy changes. Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, announced last week an agenda that includes reducing government regulations on small business to aid female entrepreneurs as well as over-the-counter birth control to quash, she said, “out-of-

wedlock” births.

Uh. We already have over-the-counter birth control. Remember? That's the excuse Republicans gave about why the Hobby Lobby decision wasn't terrible. It's not particularly good over-the-counter birth control, but now women can have more options and have it covered under that insurance Republicans want to take from them.

Oh, the cynicism is strong with this one.