The Republican Testosterone Freefall

McCain supporters lost vigor on election night, prompting hoots and jokes

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If McCain supporters seemed bereft of bravado the day after Obama's election, something more than disappointment may have been to blame. Researchers at Duke University and the University of Michigan found that testosterone levels in Republicans plummeted the night McCain lost the election. Nearly twelve months later, it's something many pundits can laugh about--for the most part.


  • "So, Dem wins create more Dems, huh? Vicious cycle" Mary Katherine Ham noted in The Weekly Standard.
  • "Or maybe Barack Obama depletes the testosterone levels of conservative young men," James Antle III hit back at The American Spectator.
  • Seems Obvious to Us Brandon Keim wrote at Wired. The "Obama win turned Republicans into girlie men."
  • Yet More Bias In MSM At The American Thinker, Ethel C. Fenig says the double standards against conservatives here are obvious:
ABC News did not reveal who did this study and how it was conducted. That's also understandable. But ABC News wants to selectively remedy that by inviting McCain voters to contact them, asking, 'How did you feel physically and mentally after the election?' And if you reply with the correct answer, 'A producer may contact you for more information.' Happy Obama voters with stable testosterone levels need not apply. Probably unhappy McCain voters with stable--or even increased--testosterone levels won't be contacted. No info yet on the post election hormonal levels of McCain's and Obama's female voters. Discrimination?
  • But 2010 Elections May Be InvigoratingĀ  "Republican men can take comfort in the fact that the testosterone drop was only temporary, and that the midterm elections are coming," writes Buck Wolf at AOL News.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.