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.