First Anthony Weiner, now Bob Filner. As sex scandals continue to tarnish the Democratic party's reputation with women, Republicans are taking advantage of it at every angle.
"The Democrats started this war on women to try to mislead women for political reasons," Kirsten Kukowski, spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, told ABC News. "They should have looked at their own elected officials and candidates before hypocritically trying to take the moral high ground."
Although the "war on women" rhetoric was based on issues surrounding reproductive rights and equal pay for women, the recent sexual indisrections of male Democratic leaders have still managed to take a toll on how women-friendly their policies really are.
New York City mayorial candidate Weiner is currently dealing with his second scandal after already resigning from Congress in 2011 for sending inappropriate photo to a woman. Additionally, his communications director referred to a former intern as a "slutbag" after she wrote a tell-all book about her experience interning for the campaign. Barbara Morgan, the communications director, is still employed by Weiner.
Not long after, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner was accused of sexual harassment by eight women so far.
Both politicians are trying to hold on to their political careers and won't back down, despite many Democratic politicians suggesting they exit office or the race.
"New York can do better than this, and quite frankly women everywhere deserve better than this," Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of the progressive women's group UltraViolet, said.
Chaudhary said sexism and "slut shaming" have no place in any campaign when referring to Weiner's aides.
Earlier this year, the Republican party's reputation with women was severely damaged after Rep. Todd Akin suggested women could only become pregnant after "legitimate rape." His comment was quickly followed by Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's remark that pregnancy from rape is something that "God intends" to happen.
Only time will tell if these two recent scandals will have a lasting effect on the image of the Democratic party.
