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

[Content Note: Misogyny; heterocentrism.]

Today's entry in our ongoing series comes via Colorado, where, earlier this week, three of the four Republican candidates for governor (Tom "Immigrants, Amirite?" Tancredo was not in attendance) participated in a debate "that was meant to reassure women that Republicans have their best interests in mind." Whooooooooooops!

Video Description: Three men—former Congressman Bob Beauprez, former state Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp, and Secretary of State Scott Gessler—who all appear to be white, sit at a table on a stage. To one side, a man who also appears to be white stands at a podium, moderating the panel.

The moderator says: "All right, the first of three periods will be the candidates' back-and-forth to each other around our main theme—women and Colorado's future. Then, for about a half an hour, we will invite up a panel, nominated by our women of Centennial Institute co-host organization. And the moderator failed to implore the ladies to come and seat themselves at the panel table in the beginning; it's so much more ornamental if the three, four of you would be on the stage with the four of us. May I ask up Debbie Brown, Mackenzie Hughes, Christa Kapher, and Helen Raleigh [names spelled phonetically] to take their seats at the panel table? We were supposed to have—" [applause] "We were supposed to have a little of The Dating Game theme. I don't know if we can play any of that music right now, but the idea was that, uh—" [the theme from The Dating Game begins to play] "There it is! Bachelor One! Bachelor Two! Bachelor Three!" [laughter] "Actually, uh, their wives are all here tonight, so one thing the candidates cannot put over on on is any kind of a bachelorhood."

I'm not sure which part is worse: The whole "women voters pick candidates like they pick husbands" conceit or the description of women as "ornamental." Jesus fucking Jones.