The Big Question: Will women vote for their same gender nominee, or side with Trump?
Demographically, Trump has set a clear trend for gaining male votes, but needs to flip the audience to females to increase his chances of taking office. Why are fewer females that are siding for him? An obvious point to this stance is rooted in the media’s display of how he has treated women during his time as the republican nominee (and who knows, maybe before), or how he has at least publicly made comments that bring women down.
Interestingly enough, “Four years ago, Romney carried this demographic [white women with college degrees] over President Obama, 52 percent to 46 percent, according to exit polls.” (The Washington Post).
Trump just cannot seem to get these women’s attention, and understandably so. Note below what he had to say via Twitter three years ago and one year ago, and it’s interesting to note how the continuation of comments like this during his tenure have changed women’s political stance.
Trump must also feel the need to positively portray his viewpoint of women through things like his ad campaign featuring his daughter (a business woman) to explain his support for a workforce in which women are treated as that of men. “The ad campaign, called “Motherhood,” will air this week nationally and in swing states on women-focused cable channels” (The Washington Post).
The list goes on as to what Donald Trump has stated about women in his past, present, and likely in his future. In the long run, this has probably caused him to lose a chunk of women’s votes, which are vital votes for the current presidential election. Whether or not he wins some votes back is up to the people, but either way, the female vote for Trump is an interesting statistic to monitor as time goes on.
I really liked when you pointed out the controversy behind women voting for Hillary Clinton on the basis that she is the same sex as them. I would have liked to hear more about it! You are so right that this is an interesting topic to follow. His past, present, and undoubtedly future is dominated by remarks that degrade and sexualize women, so it’s unlikely in my opinion that he will gain that group of voters. It especially amazes me that he still acts this way when he has a daughter…you think he would understand how important women are to this country after seeing her succeed. I also enjoyed your Twitter comparison…that was a nice way of comparing the difference between 2013 and now.