The Republican Party has a complicated relationship with sexism. Yes, Republicans patted themselves on the back in 2010 for
realizing that chicks can run for office too. But
when voters went to the polls, it turned out they weren't that into those Republican women after all.
And then, earlier this year, some Republican women in the House of Representatives had themselves an adorable little consciousness-raising session to insist that (a) they are also "pro-woman" despite their full-throated support for anti-woman legislation; and (b) they're not all as stupid or obnoxious as Sarah Palin.
And when she first jumped into the race, Michele Bachmann insisted sexism in the Republican party was a thing of the past—until she started plummeting in the polls, at which point, she decided sexism might be a barrier after all.
There are about five bazillion reasons Michele Bachmann won't be her party's nominee—and at least four bazillion of them have nothing to do with sexism. But this National Public Radio interview with Christian conservative voters in Iowa—Michele Bachmann's supposed base—sums up quite nicely why Michele can't be her party's presidential nominee. Nor, for that matter, can any other Republican woman:
RUSSELL: But gender is an issue for some, like Santorum supporter Molly Gordon, an evangelical homemaker from Sioux City.
MOLLY GORDON: Frankly, I am a woman, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a woman as president. Women are just - I just don't know if we're cut out to lead.
RUSSELL: One influential conservative went so far as to say evangelicals might have coalesced behind Michele Bachmann if we were talking instead about a Michael Bachmann.
Molly Gordon should be a Michele Bachmann supporter. But in a cruel, ironic twist of fate, the very voters to whom Michele should have the most appeal—the uber-conservative uber-evangelicals—are the exact same voters who believe, as Molly Gordon does, that a woman doesn't have what it takes to be president.
The reality is, despite all that Mama Grizzly nonsense, Republicans really don't want to send a woman to do what they firmly believe is a man's job. Which is why (among the many other reasons), neither Michele, nor any Republican woman, will ever get anywhere near the White House.