Abstract

BUTCHING UP FOR VICTORY

The author argues that Howard Dean has pulled ahead of the other Democratic presidential candidates because he exudes more machismo than his opponents. Look beneath the surface of Dean's plucky, peppery attitude and you'll find the underlying reason for his success. He's butch---and many Democrats are convinced that's what it takes to beat George Bush. Dean will have to do a lot more than man up to overcome the President's popularity. But if the polls tighten, gender presentation could make a decisive difference--as it did in 2000, when Al Gore's less-than-butch image cost him dearly. It's been a long time since the Democrats had a presidential candidate who coma jut out his chest and shoot from the hip with Dean's credibility. Maybe it's natural, maybe it's an act, but as even some Republicans are willing to admit, it seems to be working. Dean has skillfully cast himself as a manly alternative to Bush's ripe macho. That's no mean feat for a dove. Why are Republicans able to get away with the very flaws they pin on Democrats? The answer speaks to the enormous success GOP strategists have had in reaching voters on a symbolic level. The Republicans have adapted their Southern strategy to the new terms of sexual politics. What they once did with race, they are doing today with gender.