The gender gap that is. MyDD is talking about new polling from LA Times/Bloomberg showing a stunning increase in the size of the gender gap that had been declining for decades.

Take a look at the poll results and you see some interesting trends.

1. 18% of women vs 35% of men feel the country is going in the right direction with 73% of women and 56% of men saying is going in the wrong direction.
   
2. 23% of women want to see a continuation of Bush's policies vs 36% of men, 71% of women and 56% of men want a "new direction."
   
3. A similar (~15%) gap exists in opinion on health of the economy.
   
4. A 10% gap exists between men and women in the evaluation of Bush's job performance.
   
5. A 13-14% gap exists between men and women on Iraq.
   
6. A nearly 20% gap exists between men and women on the GWOT.
   
7. If the congressional elections were held today 57% of women and 41% of men would prefer to vote for a Democrat, 31% of women and 41% of men would prefer a Republican. (registered voters)
   
8. 56% of women would prefer to see the house led by Democrats vs 43% of men. 33% of women would prefer Republicans vs 42% of men.
   
9. Women also see Republicans in congress more unfavorably vs Democrats favorably,
   
10. 50% of women feel the Democrats represent their values vs 37% of men. 32% of women feel Republicans represent their values vs 45% of men.
    
11. There is a ~10% gap on integrity, handling social security, the deficit, increasing prosperity, national security, immigration, and taxes.
    
12. Finally, the ladies are starting to regret not having a gap in the last election. If the 2004 election were held over today 52% of women would have voted for Kerry vs 30% for Bush.
    

Here is the Give Up hypothesis at work. If you piss off women, you lose elections. I don't know what these Republicans were thinking. Abortion is only a winning issue for Republicans as long as it is under no real threat of being banned. Need proof? The poll also asked if people approved of the SD abortion ban. 36% of men and 32% of women approved. 57% of men and 59% of women disapproved. No one wants abortion bans, their attempts to get them passed will be the destruction of the Republican party (and it has already begun).

My optimism for November just increased tremendously. Men are so evenly divided on issues they might as well just not even show up to vote. It's the women that have historically shown a big gap in preference for one party over another (and minorities). Guess how they're going to vote in November? Hooray for the ladies!