Victories for Women's Rights in the US Election

As I write this, the US Presidential Election is projected to have gone to President Obama, and two key Senate races have been decided in favor of women's rights. Both Todd Akin of  Missouri and Richard Mourdock of Indiana have lost their bids to become US Senator in their respective states. Both of them had come out against a woman's right to abortion even in the case of rape. While that position was consistent with the Republican National Platform, as I have noted before, it is not consistent with the views of a majority of Americans.

It appears that the election hinged on the changing demographics of America. Gov. Romney led among white men, but that group is a declining fraction of the American population. Indeed, Steve Schmidt, former campaign strategist for Republican candidate John McCain and now a commentator on MSNBC, believes that the Republican Party will have to adapt to the changing demographics, which include an increasing fraction of Latinos and Asians (especially the former), or the party will become irrelevant, as he believes has happened in California.