Following last week's historic defeat for the Democrats, pollster
Celinda Lake was surely wagging her finger as if to say, "I told you
so!" Because just last Spring, Ms. Lake was preaching that the Dems
would never retake the White House unless they began to take the issues
of the white male electorate - the so-called NASCAR Dads -- more
seriously.
Indeed, white men represent a sizeable chunk of the U.S. electorate --
45 million voters to be exact. Back in 2000,
60% of
them voted for
George W., while only 36% gave the nod to Al Gore. Those additional 11
million male voters spelled the critical difference for Mr. Bush in that
tight contest.
But Mr. Bush attracted only 49% of the white female vote in that
electoral nail-biter. So soon after he was sworn in as President, wooing
the women became a key element of the Bush re-election strategy.
That meant that, with the exception of the abortion issue, the Bush
campaign was reluctant to ruffle the feathers of the radical feminists.
As a result, the Gender Warriors left over from the Clinton
Administration continued to have free rein throughout the federal
government.
And that's exactly what they did:
- Despite the recommendations of a Blue Ribbon panel, the Department of
Education refused to soften the rigid Title IX quotas that the Clinton
Administration had used to shut down hundreds of male collegiate sports
teams.
- At the Department of State, feminists succeeded in imposing a 20%
quota for women in the newly-established legislatures of both
Afghanistan and Iraq.
- The Department of Health and Human Services named Christina Beato to
the powerful Assistant Secretary of Health position. An avowed advocate
for women's issues, she blocked the creation of an Office of Men's
Health.
Most disappointing was the area of child support reform. Early in his
term, President Bush brought in fatherhood advocate Wade Horn to head
the Administration on Children and Families. But Horn's program was
co-opted by the advocates of responsible fatherhood- "responsible" being
a code word for more draconian child support.
Those developments set the stage for the 2004 presidential race.
Despite Celinda Lake's dire warning, the Democratic Party was not
willing to risk offending the Sisterhood. So the 2004 Democratic
platform flatly ignored the issues of men, while kow-towing to such
feminist demands as protecting abortion rights and remedying the
so-called gender "wage gap."
And what about the Republicans? Not surprisingly, their gender message
also targeted the female vote. Millions of placards, lapel pins, and
bumper stickers told us, as if we didn't get it the first time, "W
Stands for Women."
In the end,
62%
of white males and 55% of white females voted for George
W. Bush. Two core constituencies -- NASCAR Dads and Soccer Moms -- came
together on November 2 to re-elect President Bush.
This new-found coalition made all the difference in that closely-fought
presidential race. But Republican glee should be tempered by a sobering
fact: their victory came at the price of neglecting the issues of white
males. This is what I mean:
- Men are the workhorses that drive the nation's economy. When each
year tens of thousands of middle-age men die prematurely from heart
disease and cancer, what are the effects on our economic productivity
and global competitiveness?
- Among our nation's most eligible bachelors,
22%
have gone on a
marriage strike because of
laws
that tilt towards women.
What does that portend for the future of families, which create the
foundation of society?
- Fathers are a pillar of stability for beleaguered families. When
divorcing wives cast fathers out of their homes and claim sole custody
of the children, are we prepared for the higher rates of juvenile
delinquency and social dysfunction seen among fatherless children?
Meanwhile back in Massachusetts, a small band of NASCAR Dads put
together a statewide ballot initiative. The initiative asked voters
whether they believed fathers should get shared custody of their
children in the event of divorce.
That common-sense idea was overwhelmingly approved by
85% of voters.
In contrast,
candidate John Kerry managed to garner only 63% of the popular vote for
the presidential race in his home state.
One of these days, some smart politician is going to come along and will
realize that championing the issues of men, as well as women, is not
only a winning campaign strategy, it's also good for America.
