96 years later: Women’s Role in the 2016 Election

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have both gone the full 12 rounds, leaving the scoring decision in the hands of the American people. Tomorrow we are going to find out how the voting electorate has responded to perhaps the most negative campaign in US history. In fact, the 2016 race has made history in a whole lot of ways. For the first time since our country’s founding, a woman leads the ticket of a major party. And that woman will be counting on the support of other women tomorrow if she’s to win.

Gender has had a very important hand in influencing the direction of this election so far. Seemingly in a throwback to elementary school, the 2016 election has at times devolved into boys vs. girls. For instance, take this recent poll from McClatchy/Marist in which women support Clinton 48-36, and men support Trump 49-37. What does this mean? It appears that women and men have different ideas about what they want to see in the future of our country. If we were to roll back the clock by about 96 years and a few months, these poll numbers would suggest an incoming landslide in favor of Trump. This is of course because women have only had the right to vote for less than a century, and what a century it’s been for women. They’ve catapulted from receiving equal citizenship in 1920 to playing a huge role in the election of 2016.

Since the 1980’s, women have been more likely to vote than men. Given that the gender gap seems to be about even for both candidates, Clinton will have the advantage come election day if women continue to outvote men. Clinton’s GOTV (Get Out The Vote) team should definitely focus on motivating women to the polls tomorrow, as women will play a substantial role in getting the Democratic nominee to 270 electoral votes.

Just 96  years ago, the idea of women voting was being fiercely debated in Congress. And now, in less than 24 hours, women will play an absolutely critical role in deciding the fate of America’s future. If the polling has been accurate, they will likely be helping the first women in United States history win the presidency. Truly, women have come a long, long way in this country.

Ivanka Trump–The Secret Weapon

As Donald Trump mounts an improbable comeback heading into the final week of the campaign, he will surely need every ounce of support from his surrogates. His best and most influential surrogate happens to be his daughter, Ivanka Trump. Ivanka possesses numerous assets–she’s a gifted orator, a successful businesswomen, and most of all she is able to serve as a role model to young women throughout the country. She uses these skills in an attempt to bridge the gap between her father and hesitant women voters by counteracting the prevailing idea that Donald’s view of gender roles is archaic.

There’s no doubt that a lot of female voters see Donald Trump as a man of the 20th century, rooted in a deep web of misogyny. And Trump’s best counter argument to this perception of him is not found in anything he says or does, but instead it has manifested itself in his daughter, Ivanka. Ivanka is, by most all accounts, a kind, intelligent, and successful person. This presents a useful contradiction to the notion that Donald Trump is a misogynist because after all, if he were a sexist how could he raise his daughter to be such an independent, driven person? Now of course you the reader could claim that Donald’s Ex-Wife Ivana did the vast majority of the child rearing, and you’d probably be right, but what matters the most is what the electorate thinks. And you can be rest assured that the Trump campaign is going to use Ivanka to overcome the narrative that Donald has an outdated view on gender roles.

So what comprises Ivanka Trump’s résumé? She is currently the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, she is a successful author, and a former model to boot. Objectively speaking that’s quite impressive. For those raising their daughters in today’s world they want there to be nothing in society holding women back, and Ivanka, although the privileged daughter of a billionaire, could certainly serve as a role model to girls everywhere.

With just 8 days to go before election day, expect to see Ivanka Trump back on the campaign trail as she continues her mission to humanize her father to women across the country. It remains to be seen whether or not her father can pull off one of the greatest political upsets of all time, but if he does it will be in large part because of his secret weapon: Ivanka Trump.

Trump’s Continual Failure to Persuade Women

According to the most recent average of polls, Donald Trump is losing right now by about 5.5%. Honestly, that’s not as bad as one would expect following the avalanche of sexual assault accusations after the second presidential debate. Now, of course, it’s not good for team Trump, but if there’s one thing Donald has consistently done this entire campaign it’s coming back from the brink. And with two weeks to go before election day, the only thing that should be coming out of his mouth is his often persuasive argument that he is the candidate for true change in the American political system. Instead, when he should be talking about policy, he seems to be intentionally trying to lose as many female voters as possible.

An excellent summary of the problems with Trump’s rhetoric when it comes to courting female voters was displayed in his speech at Gettysburg on Saturday.

Now, in many ways this was a very good policy speech by Trump that will only further energize his base. Except for that part at the very beginning when he: 1. Brings up the sexual assault accusers, 2. Calls them all liars, and 3. Promises to sue them all after the election. In a speech that should have been nothing but policy, Trump needlessly inserts this scandal into the speech (as well as his foot in his mouth). So, what does the media cover from this extensive and specific policy speech?

That part at the beginning where he continues to alienate the vast majority of female voters. And can we blame them? Of course they’re going to cover the most provocative things the candidate says. Which means that what could have potentially been a very compelling argument to a segment of viewers will now, because of Trump, be seen as yet another reason why a large percentage of women are repulsed by him.

In short, Donald Trump gets in his own way far too often for him to be able to mount a miracle comeback. The smartest move for Trump when it comes to winning over females who are afraid of him is to hammer on his core principles: Trade, immigration, and national security. Instead the message they’re hearing from Trump is: The numerous women who have accused me of sexual assault are all lying and I will sue them all after the election.

Yikes.

“Losing an Election for Dummies!” by Donald Trump

My oh my what a weekend it was. Unless you’re living under a rock you’ve heard about the now infamous video of Donald Trump demeaning women and bragging about being able to commit sexual assault. For many potential voters, the Donald has officially jumped the shark in terms of saying shocking things, and his support has plummeted. If you want my hot take, I’d say there is no longer a path to victory for Donald Trump unless something absolutely catastrophic happens to the Clinton campaign.

The thing about saying something so dark and indefensible about women is that they literally make up over half the general electorate. There’s no coming back from this. Whatever female support he had mustered to this point has essentially evaporated, and he’s not going to win Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, etc. without that support. As it turns out, female voters were put off by him reducing them to pieces of meat that he can sexually assault because he’s of high status. Shockingly, female voters weren’t very thrilled at his subsequent response to the video wherein he “apologized if anyone was offended”. It would seem as though the female electorate wishes to be seen as individual human beings, and not objects.

I feel bad for Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. She is likely working extremely hard to present Donald Trump as presidential to the American people, and then the whole thing gets set on fire by the sheer reality that surfaced in the leaked tape: Donald Trump is not presidential. He does not act with the decorum or respect for human decency that the President of the United States must exhibit at all times. He cannot be reigned in, and his message is failing as a result.

And the great comedy of it all? Donald Trump’s MESSAGE could have won this election. In a year where people are hungry for change in D.C., Trump’s populist political movement could’ve ridden the wave of anti-establishment all the way to the Oval Office–if only that message weren’t being sabotaged every step of the way by it’s messenger.

 

Hillary Clinton: an Attempt to Shatter Highest Glass Ceiling

There are those who believe Hillary Clinton is unfit for the office of the presidency because they believe she put the United States’ national security at risk by using an insecure email server. There are those who believe Hillary Clinton is unfit for the office of the presidency because they believe she has been bought and paid for by corporate donors and that she does not empathize with the plight of the average citizen. And then there are those who believe Hillary Clinton is unfit for the office of the presidency because she’s a woman.

That’s right, the president of the United States can’t represent our national interests if they have two x chromosomes, get out of here with that nonsense!

As we continue our plunge into the 21st century, there still remains that highest glass ceiling for a woman in America: Holding the office of the presidency of the United States. This glass ceiling, seemingly unbreakable, is held together by the sheer force of modern history and traditional views of gender roles. This is the glass ceiling that Hillary Clinton will attempt to shatter on November 8th.

For full disclosure to the reader, I do not support Hillary Clinton for president and I will not be voting for her. But even as a non-supporter I can appreciate what she is doing in this historic run for the White House. Women were not considered full citizens in the eyes of the U.S. Government as late as 1919. Women have been discouraged from seeking leadership roles for a large chunk of our collective history. Just yesterday, Rudy Giuliani, claimed his candidate for President would be better for America “than a woman”.

Hillary Clinton must confront all of these realities and so much more in her effort to become the first female president in the history of the United States. And while we can debate all day long whether or not her policies would be the best for our nation, the truth is that if Hillary Clinton wins it will be a symbolic victory for women across the country and the world. Finally, someone will have shattered the highest glass ceiling.