WASHINGTON — When Jeb Bush said he wasn’t sure the country needs to spend “a half billion dollars for women’s health issues,” many viewed the remark as a gaffe and the Republican candidate for president rushed to clean it up.

A week later, it’s all but forgotten – thanks to Donald Trump.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has tried to make voters believe that while other Republicans might lack Donald Trump’s bluster, their views on women’s issues aren’t significantly different. The Associated Press

The billionaire businessman cracked a joke during last week’s Republican debate when asked about calling some women “fat pigs” and “disgusting animals.” He said he couldn’t remember using such words, and then attacked the popular female Fox News host who questioned his history of making such insults.

“Next to Trump, the other Republican candidates look like Gloria Steinem,” said Penny Young Nance, president of the conservative Concerned Women for America.

Amid a concern the Trump tsunami may be hurting Republicans’ standing with women, there is also a worry for Democrats who initially viewed his rhetoric as a net positive for their party. Some now fear his bluster has made others in the Republican field appear moderate by comparison and could affect the party’s ability to maintain a hold on a voting bloc that’s probably critical to winning.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s team has tried to emphasize the records of other Republicans, highlighting their opposition to abortion rights and their calls to defund services offered by Planned Parenthood.

It hasn’t been easy. Monday in New Hampshire, Clinton fielded seven questions about Trump, trying again and again to refocus the conversation on the anti-abortion platforms of other Republicans.

“What a lot of the men on that stage in that debate said was offensive. And I want people to understand, if you just focus on maybe the biggest showman on the stage, you lose the thread here,” Clinton said.

“We’ll let the Republicans go back and forth with each other, but I want to point out, there’s really not that much difference in the policies they are proposing when it comes to women,” she added.

Republican leaders acknowledged the need to improve the party’s standing among women, who constituted 53 percent of the national electorate in 2012 and have favored Democrats in every presidential election in the last quarter century. Successful Republicans have won only by limiting Democrats’ advantage with women.

President Obama, for example, won women by 11 percentage points over Mitt Romney in 2012, according to exit polls. The Republicans’ last successful candidate, President George W. Bush, lost women by 3 percent in 2004.

“While some people are excited by fat jokes and stupid jokes, I think there are a lot of people in the general election, independents as well as probably many of the women voters, who aren’t really that entertained by this,” said Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul.

Trump may have garnered the most attention, but several Republicans candidates have emphasized priorities that could alienate women in recent weeks, including escalating attacks on Planned Parenthood.

In last week’s debate, Rubio said he had never advocated for bans on abortion that include exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

“This is really good,” Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook said.

Republican officials hoped to feature women in prominent positions, in line with recommendations from a post-election report compiled by the Republican National Committee after Romney’s loss to Obama. Yet Carly Fiorina, did not qualify for the party’s prime-time debate last week.

“Our party has some work to do,” said Katie Packer Gage, a former Romney aide who leads a political firm that helps Republicans connect with women.

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