It Continues to Be a Real Mystery Why Republicans Aren't Connecting with a Majority of Female Voters

[Content Note: Misogyny.]

Today's entry in our ongoing series comes via Kentucky, where Tea Party Republican senate candidate Matt Bevin has said his potential Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, has no substantive experience and is running on her womanhood.

Bevin [who is primarying Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell] argued that Grimes just runs on four things: "She's young, she's new, is a woman, and she's not Mitch McConnell."

"She's a nice enough person," he said, but when it comes to issues, vision, or life experience, "she really has none of the above on any of those fronts."

Bevin also argued that it was "insulting" that Grimes, who has served as Kentucky's Secretary of State since 2012, would expect that women would vote for her simply based on her gender.

I'm guessing that Lundergan Grimes doesn't so much expect women to vote for her because she's a woman, but rather because she advocates for women's interests. That's a conflation conservatives love to make, and it's why they ran a candidate like Sarah Palin with the expectation that liberal women are inclined to vote for any woman put in front of us. Whooooooops!

BEVIN: "She runs on four things. She runs on some variation of: She's young, she's new, is a woman, and she's not Mitch McConnell. That's essentially what she's got, in some form or fashion. And all those are true enough, and all of those, while they're not substantive, they're good enough to beat Mitch McConnell. [...] The reality is I negate her only competitive advantages. She's then forced to run against me by talking about issues, by talking about vision, by talking about life experience. And she really has none of the above on any of those fronts. She's a nice enough person, I've met her on several occasions on the campaign trail, seems nice enough, but completely devoid of what it takes for us."

Bevin repeated this attack during a stop in Lexington on Tuesday, arguing that Grimes is simply running as a new, young woman and saying that she is "so remarkably devoid of life experience." The attack echoes Republican strategist Brad Dayspring, who called Grimes an "empty dress" who is "incapable of articulating her own thoughts" last year.

Wow.

I love the projection that goes on with white male Republican candidates, whose base is often voting for them literally just because they are white and male and have an R after their names on the ballot, irrespective of how their policies might be completely incompatible with their voters' best interests.

But it's liberal women who are playing identity politics. Because of course it is.

Good luck with your continuing outreach to female voters, GOP. Keep up the fine work. It's GOING GREAT!