France24Dr Murray was a studio guest invited to talk about the gender gap in the US election. The majority of American women vote Democrat, the majority of American men vote Republican, and this has been the case since 1980. In a closely fought election, the women's vote will be decisive. She explained the sensitivity of issues such as abortion and the inflammatory comments made by Republicans such as Todd Akin, who argued that abortion should not be allowed even in the case of rape, because if it was "legitimate rape" then a woman would not get pregnant. She also explained that, while the economy is the primary concern for both men and women, men are more worried about reducing the deficit while women are more concerned with protecting health and education; Romney is seen as stronger on the former, and Obama on the latter. These differences help to explain why women are more likely than men to vote Democrat.