Women have had a profound influence on the Republican Party, and, in turn, the GOP does much to help women. It was Susan B. Anthony who asked Republican Sen. A.A. Sargent from California to introduce the 19th Amendment into Congress. That amendment gave women the right to vote.

The amendment was defeated four times in the Democrat-controlled Congress, beginning in 1878. It was not until 1919, when Republicans regained control of Congress, that the equal suffrage amendment passed.

It did not stop there, however; 32 of the 48 states had to ratify it. Nine states voted against the amendment, eight of which were Democratic states.

A total of 26 of the 32 states voting for the amendment were Republican-controlled. On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 32nd state to ratify the 19th Amendment, which was added to the Constitution.

That was years ago. States have changed party loyalties several times over, and most of us don’t even think twice about women voting. The point is that the Republican Party has a history of supporting women.

More recently, during the first two years that President Ronald Reagan was in office, he appointed more women to serve in top policy-making positions than any other president before him in the same amount of time. During the time George Bush Sr. was in office, he appointed about 2,500 women to “high-level” positions.

Among them were Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello and Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole. Dole remains today — along with Condoleezza Rice, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush — one of the most noted female Republicans.

How I feel as a woman, combined with being a Republican, took some thought. Not because I didn’t know why I am a Republican (which I do), but because I have not considered the two identities whittled out together. The feeling I get from the Republicans is best described as “security.” Whether or not this is due to the fact that I am of the female persuasion, I cannot say.

A portion of this security stems directly from core Republican values, also from the current Bush administration.

Living near Des Moines, I have had the opportunity to listen to the president and vice president speak several times.

At the town hall meeting in Clive this past week, I listened to the president invigorate the audience with the need to pursue terrorists and bring democracy to the Iraqi people. I must say that I do feel safer now that Saddam is behind bars. There was also something about him that had a calming effect on me. Perhaps it was the fatherly way in which he said his administration will stop at nothing to protect the American people.

It is the same way fathers and mothers would risk life or limb to protect their own child. Perhaps it is the way the president reminds me of my own father, with crow’s feet and leathery skin, generally just a little “rough around the edges.” Both are merely humans who happen to have strong moral character and beliefs that make them both admirable and trustworthy.

The Republican security can be felt through a different perspective as well. Republicans seek to limit government involvement in our daily lives, as well as in businesses. Women today own 38 percent of all U.S. businesses. American businesses — especially small ones — are benefiting from “tax cuts for the wealthy.” They are able to hire more employees, upgrade equipment and technology and are better off overall. Small business owners are most likely to file their income taxes at the personal income tax level.

In other words, the income from the business is added to their own.

There has never been a more opportune time to be a woman and to be in the Republican Party. This is a party that women can feel comfortable in. One that they know will provide perpetual security in every way and in any way necessary.

The GOP is a party with a history of supporting women and a current administration dedicated to preserving that support.

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Nicole Woodroffe is a junior in political science from Fort Madison.

She is a member of the ISU College Republicans.