Notes from the political hustings: Do women want a male's "genius"?

While The Motley Monk is pleasantly surprised, the political left is aghast: Republican presidential candidate and staunch conservative Catholic, Rick Santorum, has grown more popular among women, not just the right-wing, nut-job women like Sarah Palin, but women in general.

But, it's true, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

What makes these findings so surprising to The Motley Monk and has the political left gasping is that Santorum's popularity has grown despite his opposition to abortion, disapproval of birth control, and view that the federal government shouldn't pay for prenatal screenings.  In addition:

Santorum is the only candidate who talks regularly about his family---and even about the price of milk, as he did recently.  His campaign, too, has taken pains to cast his policies in a woman-friendly light, issuing a policy statement that describes his mother as the "primary breadwinner" when he was growing up and his wife as a lawyer, nurse and author.

"What a rube!" the Obama re-elect team must think.  "A slam dunk in November."

But, in fact, "there is no evidence that Santorum's position among women in either party has dropped in recent weeks."  That is disturbing news, especially for so-called "country club" Republicans who have winced as Santorum has become even more vociferous when discussing moral topics.  Romney is their man.

It's all so counter-intuitive!  How could this possibly be?

The political left's "take" on this phenomenon, as reflected in the Washington Post's reportage, is that "Santorum's rise has less to do with his views on these issues than on his ability to relate to the daily struggles of the middle class. "  In addition, this is primary season, sort of like spring training.  Thus, "the former senator from Pennsylvania...remain[s] largely untested by the dynamics of a general election in which independent and Democratic women are expected to play a deciding role. "

If the Washington Post reportage is to be believed, Santorum's rising popularity among women voters is that they either "connect with him" because he "feels their pain" and/or the larger voting block of "real" women voters---who don't buy into Santorum's ideologically-driven, lunatic fringe politics---will bury him if Santorum is the Republican nominee in November 2012.

The Washington Post's reportage may accurately reflect the demographics.

However, there is another analysis the Washington Post doesn't report, but The Motley Monk isn't going to neglect.  He calls it the "Maria Portokalos Effect."  Simply stated, "The man may be the head, but the woman is the neck."

It may be the case that many---perhaps most?---women today don't share the same worldview that many---perhaps most?---women shared in the 1960s and 1970s.  Maybe today's women have left behind the idea that an Alpha male is inherently evil and understand very well that falling in love with, marrying, and raising a family with an Alpha male doesn't mean a life as an indentured slave.  Like Maria Portokalos, maybe today's women genuinely appreciate their particular female "genius" and genuinely appreciate as well the particular male "genius," as Pope John Paul II described the complementarity of the two sexes.

Could it possibly be that women today appreciate (or, worse yet, are drawn to and bond with) an Alpha male who stands up and battles for his moral and political convictions---which happen to be her moral and political convictions as well---while taking hits from all sides for doing so?

Could it be that women today understand that marriage isn't a matter of pursuing a personal path to unending happiness but of discovering a personal vocation and living that out, like Maria Portokalos, in an imperfect world, imperfect marriage, and imperfect family?

According to the Washington Post article:

Santorum has declared that birth control doesn't work and that it "is harmful to women" and the country.  He has argued that the use of birth control encourages sex outside of marriage, particularly among the young.  On abortion, Santorum said that the government should not fund prenatal testing because in the majority of cases when such tests diagnose a disability in the fetus, women choose to abort.

Could it possibly be that although many women today don't necessarily agree with Santorum, they recognize in him an Alpha male who is earning their respect and trust, firm in the belief that Santorum won't turn his back on them and walk out the kitchen door and into the embrace of a paramour, leaving his wife and children behind to fend for themselves?

So, the political left and its chattering class continue to cite statistics about women and their use of birth control, including the "right" to abortion.  That has worked in elections for the past five decades.  So, why not in 2012?

Ruminating about the counter-intuitive polling results, The Motley Monk is wondering if the political left and its chattering class are doing so at their own political peril.  Maybe Maria Portokalos understands this generation's women better than they do and is "voting for the vest" candidate.

Bundt cake anyone?


Let the discussion begin...



To read the Washington Post article, click on the following link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rick-santorum-winning-more-support-from-republican-women/2012/02/22/gIQAPDJjWR_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines