Writing at Politico, Ben Smith notes that men are the driving force behind the massive GOP surge in elections across the country:
Men are not only more loyal to the GOP than two years ago but also more motivated to vote, recent polls suggest. This year's central issues are ones that politicians traditionally use to appeal to men, especially worries about budget deficits. [...]
A Marist poll this month found 48 percent of Republican men called themselves “very enthusiastic” about voting, the most of any group; just 28 percent of Democratic woman said the same, with Republican women and Democratic men falling in the middle.
While neither of the cited polls offers a racial breakdown, I am positive that "men" in this case equals "white men," since men of other racial groups -- like their female counterparts -- are almost always more likely to support Democrats. So, if we're talking mostly about white men, then there really isn't any mystery as to why they are fired up and ready to go vote for Republicans; as one of the most conservative demographics in American politics, white men are much more likely to be Republican and much more likely to vote for Republican candidates. In 2008, white men supported John McCain with 59 percent of the vote, and in 2006, they supported Republican congressional candidates with 53 percent of the vote.
Given that this is a year for conservative enthusiasm, it makes sense that white men would be more excited about voting than everyone else; they tend to be pretty conservative.
-- Jamelle Bouie
