Women Have Achieved Equality In Some States But Are Still Second Class Citizens In Others-- Take Virginia

In a comprehensive new study of the state of women in America, the Center for American Progress gets into great depth about how women are faring in terms of economic security, leadership and health. The differences between the states are startling. Less startling is how badly women fare in Republican-controlled states.

There are 10 states that were ranked "F," 3 ranked "D-" and 3 ranked "D." I'm sure it won't surprise any DWT readers that all 16 of those states voted for Mitt Romney last year (as did the 4 states with scores of "D"). The failed states, from bad to worse, ranked by how badly women are treated are:

• Missouri- D+
• Kentucky- D+
• Montana- D+
• Nebraska- D+
• South Carolina- D
• Idaho- D
• North Dakota- D
• Kansas- D-
• North Carolina- D-
• Tennessee- D-
• Georgia- F
• Indiana- F
• South Dakota- F
• Arkansas- F
• Texas- F
• Mississippi- F
• Alabama- F
• Oklahoma- F
• Utah- F
• Louisiana- F

And, of course, the 10 states ranked "A" or "A-" are all blue states: Maryland, Hawaii, Vermont, California, Delaware, Connecticut, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, and Washington. Virginia used to be a red state but has been trending blue. It's a classic purple state. The situation for women, statewide has improved and is much better than it is in any other state that was part of the Old Confederacy. The overall score is C+ and the state ranks 23rd best for women in America. Wednesday night the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Terry McAuliffe went after Virginia's misogynistic Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, the GOP candidate, on women's issues.

Democrat Terry McAuliffe sought to hone in on issues that might widen the polling gap between him and his opponent, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), among women voters, during a gubernatorial debate on Wednesday night.

During multiple questions by moderator and MSNBC host Chuck Todd, McAuliffe tried to paint Cuccinelli as a conservative extremist who's out of touch on women's issues and gay rights.

"He sponsored personhood legislation that would outlaw most forms of contraception, would make the pill illegal," McAuliffe said. "He's referred to gay Virginians as self-destructive and soulless human beings. He was one of only three attorney generals when the Violence Against Women's was being reauthorized in the United States Congress-- 47 attorney generals signed the letter-- violence against women, not controversial. He is one of three that refused to sign it. It has been a pattern."

McAuliffe then linked Cuccinelli's stances on these issues as harmful to Virginia's economy, pointing in particular to a large government contracting company Northrop Grumman Corporation, which employs more than 40,000 employees in the Washington, D.C. area.

And that polling gap referred to above... as Rachel explained in her MSNBC piece up top, women voters "prefer McAuliffe by a 24-point margin over Cuccinelli... The challenge for Cuccinelli is stark: Nearly half of all voters view him unfavorably, and they trust his opponent as much as or more than the Republican on every major issue in the race, according to the poll. On trust to handle issues of special concern to women, McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli by 23 points."