Is there a republican "war on women?" One group says no, that claims of a war are a simple distraction. YNN's Bill Carey says it's no surprise that group is women within the GOP.

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ONONDAGA COUNTY, N.Y. -- It wasn't a hard sell, keeping in mind the room was packed with republican women. But Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle and U.S. Senate hopeful Wendy Long made a strong pitch, just the same. The two arguing that democratic claims of a "war on women" by the GOP are a sham.

Long said, “The real war on women is being waged by the Obama-Gillibrand economy. I think what most women are concerned about, as I go around the state, is jobs and taxes and the heavy hand of Washington in the form of regulation and spending.”

Buerkle echoed the claim of an attempt at distraction, saying the White House has tried several times to shift the nation's focus away from economic questions.

“This president has been the most divisive president we've seen. It's either a war on class, a war on gender or a war on race. These are American issues and they're serious American issues and we better face them as a nation,” Buerkle said.

The republican women, on the ballot this year, say not only will the democratic attack line not resonate with women voters, they claim it will backfire.

Long says women she's met have voiced disgust at what she claims is an attempt to pander to a segment of the female vote.

“Of course, there's a certain segment of the far left to whom these kind of issues appeal. Who care about contraception and think that the world revolves around that but I think that mainstream women of both parties and independents are much more concerned about jobs and the economy and taxes and regulation,” Long said.

Buerkle said, “I think it's a fabricated, just a fabricated concept. All women want is they want the same chances that men have. And until we get this debt and deficit under control, until we face the issues our nation faces and we solve them, no one, man or woman, is going to be able to have a bite at the American dream.”

The republicans gathered here say the key is to focus on which party can do a better job, long term, on the economy.