The Gender Gap

    The editors of the National Review posted an editorial to National Review Online suggesting that the Republican Party and the general public should “Ignore the Gender Gap.” The National Review has existed since 1955 as one of the, if not the, top news sources for conservative politics. Though the article is mostly aimed at members of the conservative public, it also seems to be pointed at the Obama campaign and its treatment of the gender issue.
    In their article the editors suggest that the whole gender issue with the current election has no bearing on the popularity or chances of being elected of either candidate. The argument itself is never explicitly stated in the editorial, and the reader must make a small inference. However, the argument relies on the assumption that voters will remain where they currently stand on the gender issue in the election.
    Evidence provided does not clearly state the argument. However, it does support the argument through the usage of quotes from speeches and public statements along with statistics from recent public polls to describing the candidates’ actions and comments to each other. The evidence has been segmented into paragraphs in the article, with each paragraph being about a different aspect of the argument. This results in a mishmash of points being made through the article, when a clear, coherent structure would be better at getting the argument across.
    I have to say that I agree with the argument being made to a point. They state that the gender issue doesn’t matter and that the gender gap between Democrats and Republicans has actually grow since 2008, but it does not matter as the gender arguments that have been thrown back and forth do not affect the likelihood of either gender voting on each candidate. In addition the editors made the point that Romney has been ignoring the gender related comments in favor of proving that he would be a better president works in his favor. While I agree with setting the gender issues aside in favor of proving that he would make a better president helps Romney, I think completely ignoring the gender issues will only harm Romney in the long run as every voter counts in this election.