Morning Distribution for Tuesday, August 1, 2023

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Morning Distribution]( Tuesday, August 1, 2023 Your daily briefing from FiveThirtyEight --------------------------------------------------------------- The Morning Story [TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-ELECTION-TRUMP]( [Trump’s Rivals Can’t Compete With His Version Of Masculinity]( By [Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux]( and [Meredith Conroy]( The contest to prove which Republican is the manliest is in full swing. Over the past few months, the GOP candidates have been falling over each other to prove their athletic worth. (Did you know Miami Mayor Francis Suarez [is a distance runner]( Or that South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott can [throw a football]( Or that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin — who’s not even running — [plays basketball]( And earlier in the summer, there were reports that some aides in former President Donald Trump’s campaign were [urging him to engage]( in some decidedly juvenile comparisons with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about penis size. This contest to out-macho each other might seem over the top. But in a sense, [every]( [presidential]( [election]( [is about]( [just]( [that]( candidates trying to convince the American public that they fit the [masculine stereotypes and ideals]( ([decisiveness]( [dominance]( [aggression]( that are [associated with the presidency](. Women candidates do it too — just watch former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s [announcement video]( where she says, “when you kick back, it hurts them more if you are wearing heels.” But the quest to seem masculine is particularly complicated in this year’s GOP primary because Trump has been so successful at projecting a macho image that Republican voters have responded to. This masculine identity isn’t about demonstrations of physical prowess — nobody talks about how far Trump can run or whether he can bench-press a certain weight. His version of manliness is fueled by other kinds of behavior — including his belittling of other candidates, aggression toward women, “tell it like it is and don’t apologize” affect — that are associated with traditional ideas about how a man should behave. The other GOP candidates largely aren’t trying to imitate those aspects of Trump’s macho identity — but experts told us that without Trump’s signature belligerence, his version of masculinity might not resonate as much. And that means his rivals may have an especially difficult time convincing the GOP primary electorate that they’re as strong a leader as Trump. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: July Was Hot As Hell. Do Voters Care?]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.