Republicans Are Sexist

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (the Republican organization which is in charge of winning Senate seats), has been raising less money than her counterpart, Sen. Chuck Schumer, this election cycle. While this could partly be due to donors focusing on the more centralized Republican National Committee (RNC), Elizabeth Dole's ineptitude, or just the general feeling this year, I think there is a more shameful explanation.

Republicans don't trust or believe in the leadership of women. The RNC and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which are both out-raising their Democratic counterparts, are both headed by men (Ken Mehlman and Rep. Tom Reynolds, respectively). While this may seem like a far-fetched, conspiracy-obsessed feminist theory, there is evidence which strongly supports it.

An article written by the teacher of Government 1300: The Politics of Congress, David C. King, cites a study which shows, among other things, that female Republican candidates can pick up about 10 percentage points among independents and Democrats in a general election. More interestingly, it also shows that voters who identify as strong Republicans tend to be skeptical about and not support female candidates.

This is important because strong republicans are the ones who donate money to campaigns. If donors do not view Elizabeth Dole as a strong leader, they are not going to donate money to the organization she is running. Therefore, she will raise less money than her Democratic counterpart (which is definitely a very odd thing since Republicans out-raise Democrats on the scale of about 3 to 2).

This situation is depressing for two reasons. First, it shows that sexism is alive and well (at least among Republicans- Democrats are willing to cross party lines just to vote for a woman!). Second, despite the fact that Elizabeth Dole and the NRSC are making less money than the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee), the RNC and the NRCC are both outpacing their Democratic counterparts, so the money which would have been donated to an otherwise male-headed NRSC is probably still being donated to Republicans, instead going to the other two of the national election organizations, and therefore, Democrats are yet again raising less money than Republicans.

WHICH MEANS WE ALL NEED TO GET OUT THERE AND KNOCK ON DOORS SO THAT SEXIST REPUBLICAN DOLLARS ARE COUNTERACTED BY DEMOCRATIC VOLUNTEERS!