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Men Lead the Conservative Surge to Retake
Congress
There’s little doubt that November 2, 2010
will mark a historic realignment in American
politics, as Democrats are predicted to endure
painful losses in both the Senate and House. What
is less appreciated is the fact that men,
especially white men, will lead the way.
While it’s true that women represent 53% of
the national electorate, it’s the 47% male
vote that will make the difference on Election Day.
That’s because historically, the female vote
tends to split between the two parties, casting men
as electoral tie-breakers.
That’s exactly what happened in January in
Massachusetts. While 52% of white women voted for
ultra-liberal Martha Coakley, 60% of men pulled the
lever for candidate Scott Brown, handing the
Republican upstart a stunning upset victory.
This same dynamic is now playing out across the
nation, according to a recent Pew Research Center
report, “Distrust, Discontent, Anger, and
Partisan Rancor:” pewresearch.org/pubs/1569/trust-in-government-distrust-discontent-anger-partisan-rancor
The national poll of 2,500 Americans found seven
out of 10 say government is wasteful and
inefficient. A solid majority of citizens now
believe the government “unfairly benefits some
groups,” “doesn’t do enough to help
average Americans,” and “is too big and
powerful.” And nearly half -- 47% -- of
Americans believe the government represents a
threat to personal rights and freedoms.
But it’s the male-female breakdowns where
the numbers jump off the page and do somersaults
and head-stands.
While 35% of women believe the government is
pursuing the wrong priorities, 41% of men think the
government has gone off the track, representing a
six-point gender gap.
A minority of women (43%) believe the federal
government threatens personal rights and freedoms,
whereas a majority of men (52%) express this
worry.
When asked whether government programs should be
cut back, 52% of men, compared to 42% of women said
“yes.” (I suspect many of the gents used
colorful language like, “h*ll yes,” but
the Pew report dutifully sanitizes that
information.)
Not surprisingly, male anger over perceived
government excess has translated into mushrooming
support for the Tea Party movement. While 44% of
female respondents indicated agreement with the Tea
Party goals, 56% of males expressed such support, a
landslide 12-point difference.
Pundit David Paul Kuhn believes these stark
differences can be traced to underlying perceptions
of what he calls the Mommy-Daddy Political
Divide.
Maternal Democrats emphasize health care, the
environment, and helping the poor. In contrast, the
paternal Republicans view government primarily as a
force for law and order. Hence, GOP priorities
emphasize strengthening the military, illegal
immigration, and moral breakdown.
(Ironically, Sarah Palin, courageous advocate
for social conservativism, admits in her Going
Rogue book to embracing nanny-state policies like
Title IX, which imposes rigid gender quotas on
college sports.)
As Kuhn notes, “Democrats saw an absent
father who made a mess of the nation. The
responsible mother was to take charge and make
everything all right.” That perception
translated into sweeping Democratic victories in
2008.
But alas, Obama over-reached. While the $878
billion economic stimulus package was sold to the
American public as a jobs bill, it was
transmogrified behind the scenes into a social
service entitlement bill. Then Obama became a stout
defender of Wall Street and big business. “The
president now personified the worst stereotypes of
the mommy and daddy parties,” Kuhn
concludes.
Liberals read the polling numbers, too. Indeed,
they tremble at the prospect of a mass exodus of
the white male electorate, 41% of whom voted for
Barack Obama in 2008.
But when push comes to shove, Democrats are
firmly tied to the ideological apron-strings of
radical feminism, as revealed by their unswerving
positions on abortion, affirmative action, and the
so-called “gender pay-gap.”
So rather than accommodating the concerns of
their male base, Democrats opted to caricature men,
turning “White male” into a
shame-inducing epithet.
Seeking to marginalize the rejuvenated political
muscle of men, the Dems then accuse the Tea Party
movement as being racist and sexist. As we know by
now, liberal accusations of others are often a
reflection of their own prejudices and biases.
So Tea Partiers -- men and women, Black and
White, young and old. I have some words of counsel:
Stand tall, stand proud. If the lamestream media
resorts to sneering stereotypes of angry White
males, take them to task for their shameful and
classless demagoguery.
And for good measure, ask them to explain how
their family-destructive, nanny-state policies are
helping women to become strong and independent.
On January 20, 2010, a remarkable political
reversal took place in the least likely of venues,
in ultra-liberal Massachusetts. Come November 2,
history is destined to repeat itself.
Carey
Roberts probes and lampoons political correctness.
His work has been published frequently in the
Washington Times, Townhall.com, LewRockwell.com,
ifeminists.net, Intellectual Conservative, and
elsewhere. He is a staff reporter for the New Media
Network. You can contact him at E-Mail
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