There have been some nasty presidential campaigns in the nearly 250 years of American politics. Supporters of Herbert Hoover claimed Catholic opponent Al Smith had commissioned a tunnel from New York to the Vatican; John Quincy Adams's backers tarred Andrew Jackson's wife as a bigamist; and Thomas Jefferson's opponent claimed he was dead. But there has never been a campaign that so clearly and (often viciously) split along gender lines. It will take the United States a long time to recover from the "Trump that bitch" T-shirts and others decorated with Clinton flying on a broomstick, which were for sale at the Republican National Convention; chants of "Lock her up" rocking stadiums from Orange County to Lubbock and Akron; Trump's "grab them by the pussy" taped comment, not to mention allegations by a dozen beauty queens, journalists, receptionists and random women that he kissed and groped them against their will. Amid Trump confirming the size of his manhood on national TV, the return of Bill Clinton's sexual-assault accusers and a nearly campaign-capsizing FBI announcement regarding Anthony Weiner's sexting, election 2016 was punctuated by penises--which is apt, since this often vitriolic campaign was a national referendum on women and power.

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