Like many Republican women candidates in 2010, Whitman won male voters and white women voters, but lost Latina and African American women by such huge margins (70 and 38 points respectively) that it was impossible to make up elsewhere.

“Somehow the women didn’t connect to her,” Manus said. “In my opinion, women vote for the person—they analyze the person first and then the policy. With that comes a lot of judgment. Women never got past the judgment to ask if she could turn this state around and execute on her vision.”

Beyond Whitman’s own shortcomings, Manus said that the Republican Party itself made winning over women voters more difficult for Whitman and other GOP women candidates.

“This party does not have a connection to women as candidates or as constituents,” Manus said. “I do not believe it’s a war on women. I think it’s a disconnection. I just feel like social issues have become the wall between the party and women voters and women candidates.”