Republicans still pretty baffled by that whole gender gap thing

Shocking this didn't work, huh? As Republicans try to pick themselves up and carry on after their humiliating defeat on Election Day, they can't grasp at enough straws to try to figure out just what went wrong.

And if this kind of wisdom, from former George w. Bush adviser Karen Hughes, is indicative of the party's deep denial of reality, don't expect them to figure it out any time soon:

And if another Republican man says anything about rape other than it is a horrific, violent crime, I want to personally cut out his tongue. The college-age daughters of many of my friends voted for Obama because they were completely turned off by Neanderthal comments like the suggestion of 'legitimate rape.'

Nice try, but FAIL. It would be nice and easy for Republicans to blame that 18-point gender gap on Todd "magic lady parts" Akin and Richard "rape is a gift from God" Mourdock, but the reality is that the gender gap existed long before either of them said a word. The gender gap persisted throughout the election, closing only briefly after President Barack Obama's less than stellar performance at the first presidential debate. But women were turned off by the Republican Party long before "Hey, ladies, quit complaining about rape, it's not that bad" became the Republicans' closing argument to voters.

Mitt Romney launched his "three-pronged strategy" in April to woo the women; that didn't work. House Republicans announced exciting research into just how lady voters work. (That clearly remained a mystery to them.) Women in swing states were especially turned off by Romney's attacks on women's health care and his vow to "get rid of" Planned Parenthood. And putting uber-extremist Paul Ryan, who cosponsored and voted for the very worst anti-woman bills in Congress, on the ticket didn't exactly help. And then of course there was Ann Romney and her repeated insistence that women don't care about any of that stuff and need to "wake up" and realize just how awesome Mitt is. (That, shockingly, didn't work either.)

And all of this, all of it, happened before Akin became a household name.

But it's cool, Republicans. You keep telling yourself that opposing equal pay doesn't matter. That vowing to defund women's health care doesn't matter. That opposing protection for victims of domestic violence doesn't matter. That 54 anti-choice bills in the past two years don't matter. Keep believing that all those women totally would have voted for Romney if it weren't for a few dumb Republican men who said some egregious things about rape. And be sure to keep pushing your War on Women and your anti-woman agenda. Maybe it'll work for you next time.