There's an old rule in politics: Dance with the one that brung you. Who brought George W. Bush to the White House? The answer is men. According to exit polls, men voted for Bush by a decisive majority, 53 percent to 42 percent. Women voted just as decisively for Al Gore (54 percent to 43 percent).

The gender gap goes back to Ronald Reagan, who was always more popular with men than with women. But he still won a plurality of women's votes--twice.

In the case of George W. Bush last year, the gender gap was larger and more decisive than ever. The 2000 presidential election ended up with two competing landslides--one for Bush among men and one for Gore among women.

The result is what we see now: government by gender gap.

What do men like? (Well, besides that.) They like sports and business. Bush was a businessman. He has surrounded himself with former business executives and touts his business credentials at every opportunity. Bush also ran a ball club, and he's the fan in chief when it comes to sports. He had the world champion New York Yankees to the White House this month, and he used the occasion to announce that he was setting up a T-ball park on the White House lawn for children. "Yankee Stadium is hallowed ground," the President said, "and so is the White House."

Is there a payoff for the President? You bet. At the outset of his Administration, Bush drew slightly better favorability ratings from men (64 percent in the Gallup Poll) than from women (60 percent). At the end of his first 100 days, Bush's ratings had stayed about the same among women (61 percent) but had soared to 70 percent among men.

President George H.W. Bush had a problem with men. Remember the "wimp" factor? That's not a problem for his son. This President Bush has been far more aggressive and visionary than his father. The younger Bush has promised not just "no new taxes" but a huge tax cut; not just "kinder, gentler" government but the "courage to confront and resolve tough challenges."

No sooner were the new President's first 100 days over than he proposed an ambitious missile defense plan, a fundamental change in Social Security, and a shift in energy strategy from conservation to production. Asked to rate Bush's personal qualities after his first 100 days, voters put "has a vision for the country's future" at the top of the list, ahead of "honesty" and "leadership." This is no passive, "in-box President," as his father was described. This Bush has "the vision thing."

But what men find appealing about him involves more than style or sports. They like his policies. In selling his tax cut, Bush associated himself with two leaders who were especially popular with men. "Forty years ago, and then 20 years ago," Bush told Congress on Feb. 27, "two Presidents, . . . John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, advocated tax cuts to, in President Kennedy's words, 'get this country moving again,' "

Sure enough, a solid majority of men supports Bush's tax cut (64 percent, according to Gallup, compared with just 49 percent of women). Men like Bush's proposal to allow workers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes (60 percent). Women are evenly divided on that idea.

By a narrow majority, men favor Bush's missile defense plan (52 percent). Women don't; only 37 percent are for it. And men tend to support school vouchers (49 percent vs. 41 percent of women).

What Bush's policies have in common and what appeals to men is their element of risk taking and competition. Let people spend their money instead of giving it to the government. Let private schools compete with public schools. Let private investments compete with Social Security. Let us defend ourselves with high-tech, space-based weapons.

Risk taking, competition--those are what sports and business are all about. And those are what Bush wants government to be all about. When Gore warned voters about Bush's "risky schemes," Bush ridiculed him. "Every one of the proposals I've talked about tonight, he's called a 'risky scheme . . . ,' " Bush said at the Republican National Convention last year. "If my opponent had been at the moon launch, it would have been a 'risky rocket scheme.' If he had been there when Edison was testing the light bulb, it would have been a 'risky anti-candle scheme. . . .' He now leads the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but the only thing he has to offer is fear itself." How's that for macho talk?

Most women think government should be about security, rather than risk taking and competition. What attracted women to Gore was his commitment to the safety net, which is what defines the Democratic Party these days. Republicans get in trouble when they threaten the safety net--as they did under then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Has Bush threatened the safety net? Yes, on the environment. Polls show both men and women give him low marks in that area. But men are still standing by him. He's their President. And men are his safety net or, more precisely, his base.

Every political leader needs a base because sooner or later every politician gets in trouble. Your base is those who are with you when you're wrong. President Clinton got into plenty of trouble. Who stood by him? Women. President Bush has to hope that he can count on that kind of loyalty from men.