The Slatest

National Review: Evolutionarily Speaking, “Romney Should Get 100 Percent of the Female Vote”

About 25 Republicans wave flags and signs in support of  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in Potomac, Md., earlier this week
About 25 Republicans wave flags and signs in support of  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in Potomac, Md., earlier this week

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Team XX will have more on this later, but we just wanted to flag the National Review’s cover story this month: “Like a Boss: When it comes to being a rich guy, Mitt Romney should own it.”

In it, Kevin D. Williamson argues that Romney should quit trying to convince voters that he’s an “ordinary schmo with ordinary schmo problem” and start trumpeting his wealth like he’s some combination of a multi-platinum rap star and Donald Trump. The reason? “Americans love rich people.”

There’s also one specific demographic that Williamson thinks really loves rich guys: women. All of them.

From an evolutionary point of view, Mitt Romney should get 100 percent of the female vote. All of it. He should get Michelle Obama’s vote. You can insert your own Mormon polygamy joke here, but the ladies do tend to flock to successful executives and entrepreneurs. Saleh al-Rajhi, billionaire banker, left behind 61 children when he cashed out last year. We don’t do harems here, of course, but Romney is exactly the kind of guy who in another time and place would have the option of maintaining one. He’s a boss. Given that we are no longer roaming the veldt for the most part, money is a reasonable stand-in for social status. Romney’s net worth is more than that of the last eight U.S. presidents combined. He set up a trust for his grandkids and kicked in about seven times Barack Obama’s net worth, which at $11.8 million is not inconsiderable but probably less than Romney’s tax bill in a good year. If he hadn’t given away so much money to his church, charities, and grandkids, Mitt Romney would have more money than Jay-Z.

And what about the president’s appeal? “Professor Obama? Two daughters,” Williamson writes. “May as well give the guy a cardigan. And fallopian tubes.”

We’ll update with a link to “The XX Factor” once they’ve had a chance to gather their thoughts.