Over her eight terms as a Congresswoman from Maryland’s Eight District, Connie Morella earned a reputation one of the strongest voices for women’s rights and reproductive choice in the Republican Party. A bipartisan-minded moderate, she worked with members of both parties to shepherd the 2000 re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act through the House with a 415 to 3 majority. Like former Sen. John Danforth (R-MO), she hardly recognizes her party today.

In an interview with ThinkProgress, Morella expressed disappointment with the anti-women voting record of the 24-member Republican Women’s Policy Committee and the lack of bipartisan House support for the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act.

Among her observations:

On the GOP’s move to the right:
I think the [Republican] Party has moved more towards the right and it has become more solidified in terms of not offering opportunities for other voices to be heard. Look at [Indiana Republican Senate Nominee Richard] Mourdock’s statement when he proclaimed victory: I’m not going to give into them, they’re going to come over to me. The word compromise is not even in the lexicon, let alone an understanding of what it means.

On moderates in Congress:
I went to Harvard in 2008. My program’s theme was “An Endangered Species: A Moderate in the House of Representatives.” If I were to go back now, I think I’d have to say “An Extinct Species,” not endangered, extinct.

On the GOP-only Women’s Policy Committee:
I’ve always said that when you look at Congress, you had more bipartisanship with Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues. The number of issues has gotten smaller… I was the prime sponsor in 2000 of the Violence Against Women Act, when it was reauthorized… On the floor, there was hardly a vote against it. And now, I don’t know why these women have been cornered, so to speak. Maybe they are motivated by the fact that this is an election year — and in a presidential election particularly, they want to act to counter the concept of the War on Women. That’s why they’re coming up with their own caucus, I suppose. I’ve always felt [the women's caucus] needed to be bipartisan… I think it’s a defensive attempt on the part of this caucus, because they’re concerned.

On a backlash for the GOP’s votes on women’s issues:
Women are a majority of the voting bloc. If they sense that some of the equities they worked so hard for are being taken away, you’ll see a backlash.

While she thinks the economy will be the biggest issue in the 2012 elections, she warns that if House Republicans insist on a Violence Against Women Act that says “except certain women,” it could hurt the party in November.

Morella says she’s disappointed with where the Republican Party has gone. “If I were there, I’d be one of the minorities voting against the party. There’s no big tent, not even a small tent. It collapsed.”

In the last few days, there has been a lively discussion about whether the Obama campaign’s critisims of Bain are “in bounds” or whether such criticism are outside the realm of acceptable political debate.

Mitt Romney, for his part, has said Obama’s criticism amounts to “attacking capitalism.”

Among those who hate capitalism, apparently, is Donald Trump. Last April, Trump described Romney’s experience at Bain as follows: “He’d buy companies, he’d close companies, he’d get rid of jobs.” Watch it:

Trump has subsequently become a prominent Romney surrogate and fundraiser. This week, Trump explained that, at the time of his critical comments he didn’t know Romney and has since come to “realize he’s a terrific guy.”

The Romney campaign has stuck by him even as he aggressively promotes birther conspiracy theories against Obama.

Romney’s tenure at Bain was also harshly criticized by Gov. Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich.

A Colorado congressman who was forced to apologize after he was caught on tape saying President Obama is “not an American” is now claiming that the apology was largely made “for political reasons.”

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) appeared on the Caplis and Silverman radio show in Denver to discuss the birther flap. The hosts told Coffman that a gaffe in Washington “is when somebody tells the truth” before asking the Colorado Republican, “Were you just at that moment speaking what was in your heart and are you now feeling you need to walk it back for political reasons?” Coffman conceded that this was the case — “to some extent that’s true” — and explained that his main regret was talking about the issue because birtherism is a “horrible issue” for Republicans:

HOST: You know how they say in Washington, a gaffe is when somebody tells the truth? I know you to be such a highly intelligent guy, such a disciplined guy. Were you just at that moment speaking what was in your heart and are you now feeling you need to walk it back for political reasons?

COFFMAN: To some extent that’s true because I think that when Republicans are not talking about jobs and the economy, when we’re not on message, I think the other side is winning. But let me put it in context. The context was at that event and other events I’ve been to, Republican events, people come up to me and say, “why aren’t you taking on the president about him not being born in the United States? Why don’t I hear anything from you about that?” It gets really frustrating. Look, I just think that’s a horrible issue for Republicans. Every day we’re talking about that is just a victory for the president. What I meant to say and said very poorly when I was there was that it doesn’t matter whether he is or not, that’s just not the issue.

Listen to it:

Later, Coffman praised those who don’t believe Obama was born in the United States. “[Issues are] going to determine this election, not focusing on the birther question. God bless people that do that. I understand their passion,” he said.

Towards the end of the interview, Coffman finally returned to his new message that President Obama was born in the United States.