The first presidential general election debate of 2016 was historic in many ways, featuring two unique candidates and the largest audience in history with just over 84 million viewers. We explore the emotional impact of this widely-viewed debate on viewers in our new article, entitled “Gender Differences in Emotional Reactions […] Read more »
How Candidates Are Handling The ‘Electability’ Question
More women are running in the Democratic presidential primary than ever before. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses what we know about how voters respond to female candidates and how different women in the race are addressing questions about their identity. The team also weighs […] Read more »
The case against voting for charisma
Democratic presidential candidate and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke at his presidential campaign kickoff rally in Houston, March 30, 2019. AP/David J. Phillip Jessica Flanigan, University of Richmond Likeability, relatability, humor, wit, charm, good looks and a little disregard for convention have always helped candidates win elections. Policy positions, character […] Read more »
Why the Fight Over Abortion Is Unrelenting
… Over the years, the abortion debate has become a linchpin in the political battle between Democrats and Republicans, mobilizing Christian evangelicals on the right and supporters of the women’s movement on the left. Why has the abortion issue had such staying power, compared, for example, with the steady liberalization […] Read more »
White Women Are Helping States Pass Abortion Restrictions
It’s common for critics of the new wave of state laws severely limiting access to abortion to say the measures are part of a Republican “war on women.” But strong support from most white women, especially those who identify as evangelical Christians, has helped Republicans dominate local government in the […] Read more »
Men and women have similar views on abortion
It’s typical in progressive circles to assume that abortion politics is heavily driven by gender, reflecting the left’s conviction that the legality of abortion is fundamentally a question of women’s rights and bodily autonomy. Polls, however, tend to show only very modest gender gaps in views of abortion. Women and […] Read more »