This year could be a groundbreaking one in American politics: An exceptional woman is in the race for the White House, and if she wins, she will be America’s first female president.

So why does it feel like this election is all about men?

The woman atop the Democratic ticket, who has inspired an outpouring of enthusiasm not seen since the Obama era, is Black and Indian American. She is the first female vice president, the child of immigrants, a woman of immense professional success, and a stepmother who is part of a very modern family—barrier-breaker in ways large and small. And yet the focus of this election seems to be not just on men writ large, but on white men specifically.

There was, of course, the rapid-fire veepstakes, in which seemingly all of the potential candidates Kamala Harris and her team considered were white guys; the one chosen, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, seems like he was grown in a lab (or by Aaron Sorkin) to be the perfect Midwestern politics dad, a progressive populist with folksy charm. Among the newly released Harris-Walz merch, the most viral piece is a camo hat that initially sold out 30 minutes after it went live online. (Sales have now reached nearly $2 million.) The campaign’s bio of Walz emphasizes his military service, his gun ownership and his time as a football coach. Article after article........

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