CNN pulls report about ovulation and voting

Posted by Karen Tumulty on October 25, 2012 at 12:02 pmHey, maybe that’s why the Obama campaign uses that big “O” on their logo.

Yesterday, as Julie Moos reports over at Poynter.org’s Mediawire,
CNN posted a story on its Web site citing unpublished research suggesting that how a woman votes is affected by whether she is ovulating on Election Day.

The network has since removed the post, and replaced it with one explaining “some elements of the story did not meet the editorial standards of CNN.”

Fortunately for us, Moos saved some of the language. Like this gem: “When women are ovulating, they ‘feel sexier,’ and therefore lean more toward liberal attitudes on abortion and marriage equality.”

So women are thinking with their lady parts? And what happens a week later? They change their minds?

The CNN post did have this cautionary note: “Please continue reading with caution. Although the study will be published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychological Science, several political scientists who read the study have expressed skepticism about its conclusions.”

Now you’ll just have to excuse me. I think this has given me the vapors. I need to go take a Midol.