Weekend Open Thread

Filed in National by on October 16, 2010

Welcome to your weekend open thread. I hope you’re having an amazing weekend. One warning, don’t go driving in Newark, it’s parent’s weekend. I got caught in that last night.

Bill Maher dropped his latest Christine O’Donnell clip. He said it was in honor of Chris Coons’s frustration with O’Donnell during his debate, he presented a montage of Christine frustrating other guests.

Some highlights from the clip:

  • “She says that every time on this show, that condoms wouldn’t protect you,” says Maher. “Well no one else is saying it,” says O’Donnell. “That’s because no one else is nuts like you,” says Maher.
  • “I’m going nuts with you people,” says future-Senator Franken.
  • “When men go into these strip joints, and testoterone is pouring out the eyeballs, what do you think they’re gonna do?” asks O’Donnell.
  • “You have to tell me about the ex-homosexuals,” author Clive Barker asked O’Donnell.
  • “If she says Jews for Jesus, I’m gonna hit her,” says Teller.
  • “I’m begging you stop for one second,” says Affleck. “Ten more seconds to make my point,” O’Donnell says. “I’m begging you, I just want to ask you one question,” Affleck says. “Yeah, get on your knees,” says O’Donnell. “She says she didn’t like sex, but…” says Affleck.
  • “Are you for anything fun?” asks Bonaduce. “Yes, I am for having fun!” says O’Donnell.
  • “You would look amazing in a black bathing suit,” Simmons tells O’Donnell.

Slate‘s Tom Socca wrote about the gender gap in regards to Linda McMahon. Journalists were speculating that the gap had to do with McMahon’s career in the misogynistic world of professional acting wrestling. Socca writes that it’s much bigger than that.

Let’s go back to that Senate race in Washington State. Republican challenger Dino Rossi was preferred by men in the Time poll by 15 points. Democratic incumbent Patty Murray was preferred by women by 31 points. That is a 46-point gap—not between Democrats and Republicans, or atheists and evangelicals, or Hutus and Tutsis, but between men and women.

Forty-six points! That is insane. Why do people who live in the same state and maybe sleep in the same house see the politically situation completely differently, depending on what kind of genitals they have? How did politics get so profoundly fractured along gender lines? Are men that much more emotionally wounded by the collapse of the economy? Where is Robert Bly when you need him? There’s a lot more going on here than the question of whether Linda McMahon makes Connecticut ladies uncomfortable. Maybe the Times could put a reporter or two on it.

Just for curiosity, I looked at the gender gap according to the For the U.S. Senate race, O’Donnell lead Coons with men by 2%, 48% to 46%. Among women Coons lead O’Donnell by 41%, 68% to 27%. The gender gap in the Delaware U.S. Senate race is 43%. In the U.S. House race, Glen Urquhart leads John Carney among men, 53% to 43%. With women, John Carney leads Glen Urquhart by 28%, 63% to 35%. The gender gap in the House race is 38%. I really think this is an underreported phenomenon and something political scientists should study more.

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Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (30)

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  1. John says:

    What if the Tea Party was Black: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtH7vH4yRcY

  2. Gail Collins at NYT wrote about the Coons-O’Donnell debate:

    It was arguments like this that made the Delaware debate by far the most interesting encounter between Senate candidates so far this year. When it was over, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer named O’Donnell the narrow winner because “she didn’t come across as just a weirdo or anything like that.” The bar for debate victory this year has become unacceptably low.

    Also, I’m not sure that O’Donnell won by any standard. She went absolutely blank when she was asked to name a recent Supreme Court decision with which she disagrees — even though she was prepped by some advisers to Sarah Palin, and that was a question that brought Palin to grief in 2008.

    I guess the voters of Delaware have a different standard of judging since they picked Coons as the winner by a 2:1 margin.

  3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriscoons/sets/72157625048227347/show/

    Chris Coons posted pictures from yesterday’s rally with President Obama.

  4. What do you think of this commercial?

  5. Joe Cass says:

    Rand Paul for President! Marine Boy and Aqua Buddha Rule! Taste fin, land lovers!

  6. liberalgeek says:

    Kind of an unfair ad against Rand Paul. But it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

  7. I find it interesting that it’s a Democrat in this case playing the religion card.

  8. Joe Cass says:

    Right UI but it is Kentucky. They’re about as bitter clinging as you can get north of Alabama

  9. Go Phils! Go RCR! Jeff Burton is the man.Jimmy Johnson n Jeff Gordon fans are fluffers! Bush bros suck!

  10. Joe Cass says:

    “Turnout sparse at “Spending Revolt” rally” from Delawareonline.com, and making my evening:
    http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101016/NEWS03/101016007/Turnout-sparse-at-Spending-Revolt-rally
    70 supporters? Out of that number, you have to think at least one would have his/hers curly toes stepped on enough to vote D. Then there are those like Christine, not really feeling the vibe but along for the ride.

  11. 70 people Joe! Not surprising considering most of O’Donnell’s supporters are shady PACs, not Delawareans.

  12. Joe Cass says:

    She could fit her in state supporters inside a volkswagon. One might call it a “clown car”.
    I need to break out the photoshop for that.

  13. Joe Cass says:

    But was the event about COD & Jerkhart? Its billed as a “spending revolt”.I’d expect the tp to be out in full force for that. There must have been a cross burning scheduling conflict.

  14. cassandra m says:

    Magnolia resident John Counterman said he thought rally organizers were disappointed with the turnout — an informal survey of the parking lot showed at least as many cars from Virginia and Washington, D.C., as there were cars from Delaware…

    Think they were here to demand the government stop spending money on sand?

  15. Jason330 says:

    Man pants!

  16. Joe Cass says:

    Cassandra, I got it from a reasonably (un)reliably source, John Discounterman,, that the organizers had expected such a turnout. “We knew the three anti-intellectual obese divorced ladies would show, we can’t keep them away. You have to understand that Dick Armey spends his weekends shouting into Limbaugh’s ear and the Koch brothers were tied up reneging on pensions while taking short cuts around EPA regulations. So this is good for us.” When I asked him about his support of the Tea Party he responded,” Son, when it hurts just to think, you better stop thinkin'”

  17. Joe Cass says:

    Aqua Boogie day and night but don’t go jumping Waterfalls
    Beneath that Amish beard is Paul freaking McCartney!

  18. delacrat says:

    An American-born citizen tracked by GPS without warrant.

    Warrants and Probable Cause are so not Big Brother Barack

    Yup. We’re a police state.

  19. Johnny Longtorso says:

    The House fundraising reports for the remainder of the 3rd Quarter (8/26 – 9/30) were posted… Carney raised $295,276, and has $1,092,154 in the bank, while Urquhart raised $72,137, and has $43,887 in the bank.

  20. Just saw a tweet by Dialogue Delaware that John Carney’s team is going to release an ad featuring Jerkhart’s Nazi comments. I hope the juxtapose it with clips of Jerkhart saying he’s a coalition-builder.

  21. I just saw the new Carney ad on MSNBC. heh.

    Also, Urquhart is speaking against a backdrop of grey block-like material – pretty grim in all.

  22. June says:

    Did you see this? Looks like the Rally to Restore Sanity has made arrangements to charter buses to the rally. There is one leaving from Wilmington (at least they’re trying to fill it).
    Rally to Restore Sanity – DC Rally Bus
    http://www.dcrallybus.com

  23. jason330 says:

    I totally choked and didn’t get up in Christine’s face today at the Delaware Home show. The ghost of Skippertee was urging me on like Obi Wan Kenobi, but my wife and kids were were all “Oh My god, no way.”

  24. jason330 says:

    I hadn’t read anything about the Reid/Angle debate. The rude pundit’s take is pretty good

    http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

  25. skippertee says:

    Jason330,
    I understand your reluctance to expose your family to the implicit danger of the battlefield. Stray shots and shrapnel were a real possibility.
    You were wise to retreat to choose the right time and place for your assault.
    Well done.