Newly elected Washington state Republican party chair finds that she makes $20,000 less than predecessor. Cites "War on Women" in effort to achieve parity.

Courtesy of the Seattle Times:

 Susan Hutchison, the new chair of the state Republican party, gets a salary of about $75,000 a year — substantially less than the $95,000 earned by her predecessor, Kirby Wilbur. 

But when Hutchison tried last weekend to convince the GOP executive committee to boost her pay to Wilbur’s level, the conversation turned ugly and Hutchison’s request was rebuffed. 

Hutchison bemoaned the decision in an internal party memo obtained by The Seattle Times. 

In the memo, sent Monday to the state GOP executive board, Hutchison wrote the “positive spirit” of the GOP meeting had “soured late in the day” when her salary request came up. 

The pay for the Republican chairman’s position had been cut by GOP leaders — citing budget issues — at a meeting just prior to Hutchison’s election in August. 

But Hutchison argued that vote had violated the party’s bylaws and could be viewed as “discriminatory and vindictive” — and even play into the hands of Democrats who have talked up the GOP’s problems among female voters. 

“The pay cut defies the concept of equal pay for equal work, playing into the ‘war on women’ narrative against Republicans,” Hutchison wrote. She added she’d personally raised $22,000 from 18 non-Republican Party donors from her personal list of contacts — “which more than covers” the $20,000 pay raise. 

“I left the meeting demoralized, and so did my hardworking staff. I heard that some of you felt beat up and angry, while others were very pleased. This kind of division over something so minor is not what will move us forward,” Hutchison wrote.

Of course after this kerfuffle Republican sources are claiming that they were planning to cut this salary all along and it had nothing to with the fact that Hitchison is a chick, and for her part Hutchison is trying to minimize the fact that she just ran head long into the GOP "War on Women," but I think we know what's really going on here.

Let's face it in the Republican world having ovaries is a preexisting condition, and the men believe that the doors of opportunity are pried open with their Viagra engorged penises.  (Or a gun, same thing really.)

Should I even bother to ask, yet again, WHY women bother to join the Republican party?