Shades of SC: Sexism rears its ugly head in GA GOP governor race

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Evidently there wasn't enough sexism to go around in the South Carolina GOP race for governor, so now it's rearing its ugly head in the same contest in neighboring Georgia. Craig Howie reports at Top of the Ticket:

You’ve doubtless heard of the "Real Housewives of Atlanta." But a storm surrounding the use of the phrase “real women” has roiled the GOP gubernatorial race in Georgia ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

Karen Handel, who this week saw her stock – and her poll numbers – soar with an endorsement from Sarah Palin, has handbagged one of her rivals, Nathan Deal, with accusations of sexism related to his campaign slogan.

The unlikely saga began when Deal, who uses the slogan “Deal. Real.” in almost all his campaign literature, wrote that “real women” support his campaign. As opposed to, say, Handel and a certain Mama Grizzly.

Of course, “real” is a pejorative term at the best of times and takes on a whole new meaning when applied to women in general (or indeed housewives).

[...]

Palin, endorsing the only woman in either party’s primary field, noted that Handel was “pro-life, pro-Constitutionalist with a can-do attitude and a record for fighting for ethics in government.”

Handel replayed her endorsement from the former governor of Alaska on more than 300,000 robocalls placed to likely voters, which likely resulted in her reversing polling positions with Oxendine, the previous front-runner. Handel also has secured the endorsement of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

[...]

President Obama faced charges of sexism in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election with his now infamous “lipstick on a pig” comment that many considered a jibe at Palin, John McCain’s running mate. That sexism charge failed to be a game changer for the McCain campaign, but this one could yet gain traction.

For real.

Read Howie's unedited post at Top of the Ticket.

- JP