But privately, discussions about the political fallout gripped the party, with Republican lawmakers and strategists unnerved by the charged, gender-infused debates that have upended this campaign season.
But Our Post colleague Robert Costa notes that "privately, discussions about the political fallout gripped the party, with Republican lawmakers and strategists unnerved by the charged, gender-infused debates that have upended this campaign season.
His race is charged with gender, but his problem at the debate was more a matter of sense and manners.
A campaign called "Even the Score" has charged that gender bias at the FDA has left women with sexual problems stranded, while 26 products for men have been waved through the approval process since Viagra was approved in 1998.
Joanne Sandler, deputy director of UN Women, the UN entity charged with gender equality, noted that the UN system has advanced in recognizing rape in war as a specific international crime.
Democrats say Mr. McConnell has reason to be nervous, particularly after politically charged comments on gender issues hurt Republicans in the 2012 elections, costing them Senate seats in Indiana and Missouri.
The announcement — which comes amid a national conversation about sexual identity fueled by transgender former Olympian Bruce Jenner's high-profile interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer — left some unanswered questions as it interjected Smith into the highly charged territory of gender identity.
Threaded throughout these conversations were the more politically charged issues of gender bias in the museum world, challenging the stereotype of the museum director (Philippe de Montebello), and the more abstract question of whether or not women direct museums differently than men do.
"You are the thin blue line charged with protecting the gender sanctity of North Carolina's bathrooms," he said.
A TechCrunch editor charged that if the gender roles were reversed, everyone would find such a service appalling.
