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Tag: gender gap
Donald Trump supporters

Trump Flubs Desperate Appeal For ‘Housewives’ Vote

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Almost nothing President Donald Trump ever does is subtle. When he tries to appeal to specific voting demographics, he often lacks the finesse to communicate the essential idea that he doesn't just care about them for their votes — he actually shares their values.

That's why he can easily espouse bigoted ideas even when trying to court specific groups of voters, such as when he told African-Americans that they are "living in hell in the inner cities" or when he told Jewish voters that supporting Democrats demonstrates "either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty."

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Danziger: Not All White Men

Danziger: Not All White Men

Jeff Danziger lives in New York City. He is represented by CWS Syndicate and the Washington Post Writers Group. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons and one novel. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.com.

Clinton And Gender Politics No Simple Matter

Clinton And Gender Politics No Simple Matter

Carly Fiorina has evidently hired herself as a hit woman, going after Hillary Clinton and her likely run for president. Fiorina is former chief of Hewlett-Packard and onetime Republican candidate for Senate from California. The thinking is that as a formidable woman, she can go after Clinton without being called a sexist male.

Republicans understand correctly that they have a problem attracting female voters and that Clinton is a special case, even next to other female politicians. Clinton has paid a lot of attention to gender equity issues and has weathered decades of sexist attacks, not only from the right but from some backers of her Democratic foes; recall the nastiness of her unsuccessful race against Barack Obama for the 2008 nomination.

As a result, Clinton has an army of women, especially older ones, watching her back. But within this set of facts lie dangers for those who misread the feelings about Hillary.

Some women no doubt yearn for a first female president, but more, I’d venture, simply regard Clinton as the strongest candidate, in intellect and in experience. For decades, they’ve seen her pelted by disrespect tinged with sexist ridicule, the latest incarnation being an obsession with her age not applied to potential male candidates of similar vintage. That’s what has her supporters fuming.

Thus, the assumption that these women would respond warmly to any woman thrown in their face registers as insulting. Such simplistic thinking has gotten Republicans in trouble. It led to the disastrous nomination of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate in 2008. The scariness of having the grossly unqualified Palin one heartbeat away from the presidency may have cost McCain the election.

The gender gap is based on differing worldviews. There is little in Fiorina’s conservative agenda that would appeal to the women who got Obama elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. And assuming that her being female is enough to go on opens all kinds of possibilities for Republicans to put their foot in it.

For instance: Republican strategist Ron Stutzman recently told the media that Fiorina could be a “very effective critic of Hillary, which Republicans are going to need.” He added that “obviously there is a space for a very articulate, conservative woman.”

Only one? Why not two?

Speaking for myself, I don’t buy into the ludicrous idea that it’s anyone’s “turn” to be president. Nor do I believe in the need for a “transformational figure” embodying a gender, race or religion that hasn’t presided in the Oval Office before. May the most competent human serve all of us.

I backed Clinton for the 2008 nomination because I thought she had the best ideas and best preparation for the job. When Obama became the nominee, I supported him — not because he is African-American but because of his brainpower and moderate politics.

Nowadays, I’d like to hear more from former Navy secretary and senator from Virginia Jim Webb, another Democrat who’s shown interest in the race. And there’s always a chance, however tiny, that Republicans will come up with a presidential candidate whom I would vote for. It’s happened before.

When it comes to assumptions about female candidates’ appeal to female voters, Democrats should watch their language as much as Republicans. In response to the support Republican men have expressed for Fiorina’s crusade, prominent Democrat Ann Lewis said, “These guys really believe it’s unfair that women are now running.”

Don’t go there, Democrats. Republicans aren’t attacking Clinton because they think it’s unfair that women are running for president. They’re going after her because she’s strong and tough enough to be a serious threat. Clinton has earned the right to be a threat.

Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com.

Carly Fiorina speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, MD. (Gage Skidmore via Flickr)

War For Women Intensifies In Campaign’s Final Days

War For Women Intensifies In Campaign’s Final Days

By David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau (MCT)

BOULDER, Colo. — The war for women is raging in campaigns across the country in these last days before Tuesday’s midterm elections, and though Democrats have comfortable leads in most key races, the margins aren’t as comfortable as they’d like or need.

Hurting the party is a renewed concern about security, particularly among mothers who tend to see the Obama administration as fumbling recent crises — from the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to the fears of Ebola spreading in the U.S. — as well as some backlash from Republicans and independents who complain that Democrats seem obsessed with reproductive rights issues.

Democrats have spent much of the election year insisting Republicans would jeopardize abortion rights and access to contraception and make it harder to gain equal pay. While those messages have won Democrats healthy margins among women, it’s not the overwhelming edge the party sought.

“Many women say, ‘You’re trivializing us,’ ” said Wayne Lesperance, director of the Center for Civil Engagement at New England College in New Hampshire. “Women say, ‘We’re going to war again and we’re worried about this disease.’ ”

That view echoes all over states with tight races. Cydney Tanner, a University of Colorado student, is voting Republican because she appreciates how President George W. Bush dealt with terrorists.

She was in the first grade on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked American targets. “President Bush was very comforting. I really felt assured I was safe,” she said.

Women could be critical constituencies in virtually all of the too-close-to-call contests next week where Democrats need double-digit leads among women to offset strong Republican advantages among men, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.

Marist’s latest polls for NBC show Democrats flirting with political danger.

In Iowa, Rep. Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate for Senate, is up by only 5 percentage points among women. In Colorado, Sen. Mark Udall has an 11-point advantage, the same margin as Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas. In North Carolina, Sen. Kay Hagan leads by 10 points. Only Pryor’s numbers are up from previous polls this fall.

In New Hampshire, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, has a 5 percentage-point lead over Republican Scott Brown, down from 12 in September, according to the latest New England College Poll. Helping drive that trend: Two-thirds of women polled earlier this month in New Hampshire said they were very or somewhat concerned the Ebola virus would affect the state.

Wooing women, particularly those who are unmarried, has been a crucial part of Democrats’ strategy this year, and loyalists maintain they’re going to do well with those constituencies next week.

“Unmarried women, who tend to pay attention later, are listening to the economic narrative,” said Page Gardner, president of the Voter Participation Center, devoted to getting unmarried women to vote.

There’s also contraception. After the Supreme Court’s June ruling exempting certain companies from providing government-mandated birth control services if they violate the owners’ religious beliefs, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the decision “jeopardizes the health of women who are employed by these companies.”

In the Democratic-controlled Senate, leaders have made equal pay, reproductive rights and reauthorizing domestic violence laws top priorities. On the campaign trail, candidates have been relentless painting Republicans as heartless anti-abortion zealots — in Colorado, Udall has been dubbed “Mark Uterus” for his persistent focus on such issues. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, trying to build her own momentum among women for a possible 2016 presidential run, campaigned for Udall last week and warned, “Women’s rights here at home and around the world are clearly at risk.”

All this has triggered sharp criticism. “If Colorado’s U.S. Senate race were a movie, the set would be a gynecologist’s office, complete with an exam table and a set of stirrups,” wrote Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post last month.

Getting Democratic women to the polls, though, faces several challenges. Unmarried women are more prone to stay home on Election Day. They tend to be younger voters who often are not engaged in politics.

“A lot are heads of households and not affluent at all,” said Susan Carroll, a senior scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics in New Jersey. “They don’t focus on politics. They’re more worried about meals on the table.”

The battle for women has intensified in these final pre-election days.

In Iowa, Ernst’s background as a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard helps her with women concerned about security. “The biography is attractive,” said Christopher Budzisz, director of the Loras College Poll in Dubuque, Iowa.

In Arkansas, the Democratic senatorial committee launched an ad this week where a woman maintains, “A vote for Tom Cotton is a vote against Arkansas women.” Cotton fights back, as “Women for Cotton” tell voters on a website, “Women in Arkansas know that the Obama-Pryor economic agenda isn’t working.”

Cotton also stressed his military credentials. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Colorado’s the stage for some of the most intense battles, thanks to Udall’s all-out effort to woo women. This week, he launched an ad blasting Republican opponent Rep. Cory Gardner for co-sponsoring a measure to provide equal protection under the Constitution “for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.” Backers call this personhood. Gardner earlier this year said he does not back personhood anymore.

Democratic women are wary and insisted they’ll flood the polls Tuesday. “Democrats show us respect. Republicans act like women are a minor class,” said Molly Nunes, an Aurora nurse.

Electing a new senator is not necessarily going to make things safer, say these women — after all, it’s the executive branch that’s in charge of disease control and national security policy.

Republicans disagreed. “Democrats pegged us as single-issue voters,” said Ellyn Hilliard, a Lyons insurance saleswoman. “That’s insulting.”

Photo: uacescomm via Flickr