I think the gender gap is in part caused by differences in the ways men and women think, and perceive situations.
In general, men are less emotional than women, and more willing to recognize that you must sometimes endure unpleasant consequences to get to an ultimate good result.
Women will focus more on the short-term pain, while men look further into the future toward the ultimate gain.
The reality is that while Republican policies generally work better, Democratic policies sound better. It sounds terrible to say that we must endure the pain of temporary economic dislocation to have a stronger economy in the future. Or that we have to endure casualties now to keep danger from us in the future.
On foreign policy, men instinctively know the rules of the playground from their boyhood - that you have to stand up to a bully, that if pushed, you must push back, and that a search for peace at any price will generally make you a target for abuse. Women, with their different socialization growing up, are often less clear about this, and therefore are more favorable to Democratic foreign policy ideas.
The gender gap has also been advanced by our politically correct designation of women as a special interest group. I found it appalling that John Kerry could get up and say that he would put the legal system on the side of women. Women are pandered to as a special interest group, and that creates a sense of entitlement and the expectation of more pandering, and the Democrats do it well.
The problem with your characterization is that it works exactly the opposite on economic issues. Republicans are the ones who focus on the short term pain of paying taxes, while Democrats see the long-term benefits of some economic redistribution for the benefit of the entire nation. On the deficit, this is now true as well.
And women are more liberal on economics than men, not more conservative, as they should be if your analysis were true.
So I think that while it may have some merit, your characterizations are clearly not always true.
The main reason for the gender gap, as I see it, is on economics; men are wealthier than women on average, and thus more likely to benefit personally from Republican economic policies. Women are more likely to to want the protection of Democratic economic policies, while men are more likely to believe in rugged individualism and not accepting assistance from others. Men are supposed to be tough enough to make it on their own, and if they can't, it means they are a failure. This incorrect perception of the self-worth of men is driving men to vote Republican. Women are conditioned from a young age to find it much more acceptable to be helped by others; they are more cooperative in nature rather than competitive, and also less likely to favor aggressive solutions rather than compromise.
