Did sexism defeat Fiorinna and Whitman?

Carly Fiorinna and Meg Whitman lost in their attempts to defeat Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown for senator and governor of California, respectively.  Why did they lose?  For any number of reasons which I do not want to deal with now.  Here is one reason you will not hear, neither from the mainstream media, nor from either of their campaigns, nor from conservative commentators: sexism.  And why will you not?  Well, for Fiorinna, it's quite obvious: she was running against another woman.  For Whitman, it's also obvious, but for a different reason: she's a conservative, and when conservative women, -blacks, -Hispanics, or other "minority groups" lose, they do not claim that it was due to bigotry against them.  They take their losses like mature adults, regroup, and ready themselves for the next political fight.  Are there exceptions?  There must be; I just can't think of any.  In general, though, this assertion is true.

Liberals, on the other hand, are quick to play the racism-, sexism-, or other -ism- card frequently.  Don't take my word for it; just read nearly every one of the New York Times' columnists, be it Dowd, Rich, Blow, Krugman, Kristof, or others.  Why did person X not vote for President Obama?  He's a racist.  Why did person X not support President Obama's health care legislation?  He's a racist.  Why did person Y not vote for John McCain?  It can't be that he's an age-ist; he's principled!  And why did person Y not vote for Sarah Palin?  He's not a sexist; he's principled!  Funny how the bigotry charges overwhelmingly go one way, isn't it?  Do most Democratic candidates or there supporters make these charges?  I think not.  When the charges are made, however, you can bet the farm that they will be coming from the liberal side.

Why is this?  The reason is simple.  Liberals generally try to silence the other side by throwing out labels which discredit them: sexist, racist, homophobic, et al.  Once you have labeled your opponent as such, dialogue is unnecessary; how can one speak with such a bigoted person?  And then you need never deal with the issues.  Liberals claim that they wish to engage in a spirited debate about any number of issues.  Problem is, though, they just can't seem to find any non-sexist, -racist, -homophobic, et al people to talk to.  Such a shame, it is.