Men, Women & Sex - Republicans and Their Candidates

Studies suggest the biggest difference between men and women when it comes to sex lies in what it takes to trigger desire. A man can be triggered by a single thing - amazing eyes, pert breasts, shapely legs, a great laugh. A woman, by contrast, needs multiple triggers. These triggers aren't always the same but they would include looks, personality, social status, physical fitness, and a sense of humor. One of the things that makes it harder to predict who a woman will be attracted to is that it is not just one thing, but it could be different things. A rich guy who is also kind might attract her in spite of being physically unattractive or a good looking guy without a sense of humor but who is kind to children might attract her. Women's calculations are more complex.

The Republicans have seemingly wearied of Rick Perry already and are now making noises about how much they like Chris Christie. They are now flirting with a new candidate. Now it could be that the Republican Party is the maneater of politics, chewing up and spitting out candidates as a way to break up their boredom. Or it could be that the attraction of a candidate and a president are as different as the attraction of a man and a woman.

A candidate needs to have only one really remarkable or interesting feature. Like men attracted to a woman, at the early stage of "would you consider this candidate" part of politics, a candidate has to have only one feature that folks like. Ron Paul's desire to eliminate any part of government not listed in the constitution is enough to attract Republicans, for instance. But when it comes time to actually making someone president, those same voters become women. They note that the package of pluses and minuses suddenly doesn't work. They don't like the idea of legalizing drugs, or eliminating social security and medicare. They don't get their multiple triggers, don't reach a threshold of net gains sufficient to say yes to the candidate.

Women are choosier when it comes to mates because they have the raise children and would like the sperm donor to also be a good father. Voters are choosier when it comes to actually picking a president because governing is more complex than just debating some exciting or controversial ideas. Before he strips down to just his boxers, Christie might want to make sure that it's the woman in the voter who is beckoning him and not just the man.