One of the amazing things that’s happened in the past few years is the way that the conservatives, having (more or less) lost the racial and communist cards as a way of separating fools from their votes, have succeeded in exploiting gender issues. The GOP has successfully convinced large swatchs of America that it’s not quite manly to vote Democratic.
That is why I’ve always said that the critical moment, the turning point of the Bush Administration was during Katrina, when Bush flew over the disaster, looking down lamely from his airplane window, while his adminsitration impotently failed to rise to the occasion of dealing with the crisis.
Bush and his handlers had succeeded in cultivating a carefully crafted illusion that he was genuinely manly – a take-charge, straight-talking, effective, no-holds-barred guy. But the Administration’s reaction to Katrina (which resembled the flighty lady in distress more than her strong cowboy rescuer) and the Window Tour in particular, shattered that image. A gestault switch took place among a certain significant chunk of macho (but naïve and gullible) Americans, and it’s been all downhill for the Bushies ever since.
Some political scientist, if they haven’t already, oughta test these speculations about the primacy of gender consciousness in GOP voting against the GSS (General Social Survey, a huge biennial survey of Americans on a wide variety of subjects).
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