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BY ADELE SAMMARCO
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
It’s been called "The War on Women" in a critical election year.
Lines have been drawn in the sand between congressional Democrats and Republicans over a wide range of hot button issues affecting all women, from contraception to preventive health care coverage, and violence.
The political message is primarily aimed at winning over female voters. However, it could become a tough road ahead for both sides in this latest struggle over gender politics.
New legislation aimed at helping victims of domestic abuse is now up for debate.
Sandy Adams, a first-term representative from Florida has maintained a relatively low profile during her time as a Republican Congresswoman, but now has been thrust into the national spotlight by her party as their latest face of the battle over the Violence Against Women Act.
"At an early age, I quit high school at 17 and joined the Air Force. Married by 18," Adams said according to CNN. "During the marriage, I had a little girl, and I realized really soon that my husband had a penchant for drinking, and when he drank, he turned very mean, very violent."
Adams is now the lead sponsor of the House Republicans version of the Violence Against Women Act.
Republicans believe her story could help propel their version of the 18-year-old law forward while deflecting critics who say they are insensitive toward women.
Adams is up against a much higher-profile fellow Republican, Representative John Mica, in an upcoming primary in Florida.
Democrats say her recent emergence in this political arena has more to do with politics than with the reauthorization process.
The Violence Against Women Act was first enacted in 1994 and was reauthorized twice since then with bipartisan support, but with very little notoriety.
This time, as campaigns heat up on both sides for the White House, and both sides courting women voters, the issue has been given renewed life.
Last month, the Senate approved a bill with bipartisan support, voting 68-31 with every Republican woman supporting the measure.
