Will Sex Appeal Trump Substance in the Midterm Elections?

Will Sex Appeal Trump Substance in the Midterm Elections?

Will Sex Appeal Trump Substance in the Midterm Elections?

The Nation’s Betsy Reed and Esquire‘s Tom Junod debate the appeal of female Republican candidates—and whether the conserva-femmes are actually good for women.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Are Republicans using sex appeal to drive more voters to the polls? Betsy Reed, The Nation‘s executive editor, joins Esquire‘s Tom Junod to debate the appeal of conservative female candidates like Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell and Michele Bachmann. 

Drawing on her recent Nation article, "Sex and the GOP," Reed argues that, despite all the feminist rhetoric, these candidates actually appeal more to men, and that women are traditionally more liberal in their sensibilities than these far-right Mama Grizzlies. "All the polling shows that they actually appeal to men," she says, "which is the traditional base of the Republican party."

But if conserva-femmes appeal to men, then where are all the women—what is keeping women from actually getting out to vote?

—Braden Goyette

Support independent journalism that does not fall in line

Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

But this journalism is possible only with your support.

This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?

Ad Policy
x