“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.

 

What will it take?

 

If you have yet to hear about the release of a tape in which Trump sexually degrades women on multiple levels, then this post should catch you up. In this tape, Trump goes on to say extremely explicit words that I find overall disgusting and horrible and would prefer not to repeat. However, I would like to discuss how this new turn of events could play a part in how the rest of this election pans out.

WARNING THIS VIDEO INCLUDES ELICIT AND CRUDE LANGUAGE:

After listening and taking in this conversation, I was not shocked by the rhetoric of the conversation because Trump is known for his extreme language and profanity. However, the timing of the release of this video is crucial in how Trump will continue to do in concordance to the female vote.

Many women are disgusted and have gone to great links to discourage others to not vote for Trump. Hilary Clinton has already spoken out about this video and its content, and therefore capitalized on her platform that he is not fit to be President.

But many conservative females will continue to vote for Trump regardless of his elicit and volatile language and nature. This is a very interesting trend, because in a time where women are striving for equality, the majority of conservative women will cover their eyes and ears to problems such as this because they are so loyal to their party and traditional beliefs.

As we have discussed in class, Trump had done a great job relating and catering to the overall ideal of the traditional conservative voter. Because of this, his voters have and will continue to vote for him regardless of present and future problems his campaign may face.

This tendency raises the question: Ultimately, what would Hilary Clinton have to do in order to sway this portion of voters?

Can Gender Win The Election?

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A woman’s role in the U.S. is constantly being redefined. As time passes, feminists grow in number, striving towards one goal, equality. Despite a long history of a culture deeply rooted in the ideals of hegemonic masculinity, gender equality has slowly gained momentum, to the point where it’s a very real possibility that we could have a women sitting in the oval office come January. We as a society have come so far even since 1993 when Hillary Clinton became the first lady and at that time “a feminist coming there [to the white house] was too jarring for a lot of people” says Clinton to The Rolling Stone (49). Only a few decades ago the thought of a first lady being a feminist was taboo. So that begs the question, is our country ready for a female president? Despite statisticians and pollsters attempts to call the election, the answer can only be definitively known come November 8th. So instead of trying to bog myself down in polls and the whole “who won what” debate, I decided to do some investigative journalism myself. I took to the streets to ask real, college aged women about women’s roles in regards to the gender argument and the election.

What I found is that all interviewees recognized women’s role in the 21st century as taking on a somewhat liberated role. One women, Catherine, said a women’s role was “anything… being able to fulfill you’re self dreams and goals”. I followed this answer up asking if she thinks this role is fully and equally achievable, she responded, “I think it’s achievable but at this point in time, no, I don’t think they have equal opportunity”. All the women interviewed followed a similar discourse to that of Catherine’s. They noted progress in women’s freedom and role in society however they thought that women aren’t quite equal in the eyes of society and in opportunity. It became clear, gender equality was important to these college aged women, but how much did this influence their decision on who got their vote? When asked about their main issues in the election not a single woman singled out gender equality, women’s rights or anything of the sort. Therefore, the gender issue wasn’t seen as a deciding factor but rather a compliment to those in favor of Clinton and in the case of Trump…well one optimistic interviewee explained it was something that “Trump would have to change his stance once he’s in office, if he was president he’d act more presidential” says Lucy, age 22.

It is no doubt that gender is largely at the forefront of this election especially with two candidates that virtually represent polar-opposite ends of the spectrum. I know that interviewing a dozen college aged women does not begin to try to predict how the election will turn out but it does remind us to question the power of the gender argument and to what extent it will dictate peoples decision come election day.

 

Sources:

Reitman, Janet. “Hillary Vs. The Hate Machine.” Editorial. Rolling Stone 6 Oct. 2016: 44-49. Print.

Women, Sexism, and the 2016 Presidential Campaign: The Saga

One thing that both avid supporters and outspoken critics of Donald Trump can agree on is that he has a knack for saying things average politicians do not, or should not say. Supporters see this is as a good thing, saying that this effectively portrays the narrative of a trustworthy outsider giving him fresh perspective on how things should be run in Washington. Critics say this anti-politician, off-the-cuff language makes him appear incompetent and unfit for the presidency. Wherever your opinions lie on the matter, it is interesting to analyze some of these remarks especially in regard to what he has to say about women.

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– image from Salon

Trump has constantly been referred to as womanizing and misogynistic from the outset of his campaign, which has had a profound negative impact in the polls since women will be incredibly important in determining this election. The argument could be made that they may be the most crucial demographic in this election. Hillary Clinton has driven millions of women, both Democrat and Republican, to her side with her careful rhetoric; Trump’s less restrained rhetoric has driven women away by the masses, which is something Trump campaigners have desperately tried to rectify.

I googled the word “sexism,” and, unsurprisingly, the first thing to come up was the definition. More interestingly though, the second thing to come up was an image and an article about Trump. Maybe this was coincidence, or because the author used really great key words for search engines, but regardless, it is shocking for a presidential candidate to be so closely linked to such a huge societal problem that he be the first thing to follow the definition. In light of this, I think that this election has major implications for how sexism will be handled after the election. I do not think that either candidate will effectively be able to end sexism in one term; I don’t think anyone could. However, I do think that when women go to the polls, the candidate they vote for will reflect whether they want the issue to be dealt with proactively or reactively.

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While some women are appalled by the language Trump uses, others couldn’t care less. One source reported a woman saying “He’s all-inclusive. He will offend everybody equally,” which she seemed to find endearing, which offers an interesting perspective into the mind of the demographic that will largely decide the vote. For those that do not find such qualities appealing, Trump’s staff has been working damage control, largely spear-headed by Ivanka Trump who has appeared in several ads advocating for her father’s character and his view toward women. Moving forward, I think we can expect to see many more attempts cater Trump’s rhetoric to not marginalize women.

Trump: The Worth of Women

 

On the first night of the debate the topic of Alicia Machado was brought up. I first want to clarify that I am not against Trump. I believe that by being unfiltered, makes him connect to the voters more than the reserved/professional rhetoric Clinton uses. The gender role issue has been brought up many times during this election and when this topic was brought up, it caused a lot of controversy.

Sexism has been a major problem in everyday life, especially in the government and in the workplace. Trumps history of demoralizing women has caused a negative affect of women voters. In the first debate, Clinton brought up how he referred to the 1966 Miss Universe winner as “Miss Piggy”  and “Miss Housekeeping”. Clinton then went to Alicia Machados defense by telling Trump that “she has a name”. Clinton used this weapon to connect with female voters. She strategically used this because she is trying to break the “glass ceiling” in the workplace. Women are daily abused in the workplace by their male co-workers and it is something that is needed to be publicized.

By using derogatory names toward women, Trump has caused a huge upset with female voters. Women, who have been demoralized by Trump, like Alicia Machado have now been speaking out. They have been attacking him and using negative rhetoric, to let the world know that sexism is still a major problem in the country. Clintons role as a woman in politics is to emphasize the situation in order to gain power in the election.

I do think that Clinton was right with bringing this topic up. Trump should never have said those demeaning things to any women. However, in my opinion Trump is not sexist. He did make a mistake just like everyone does. Clinton has used her strategic poetic rhetoric in her speeches making sexism a major problem in her campaign. I think that this problem has been highlighted and will be resolved no matter who wins the election.

 

 

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.

Knowing Your Role

Throughout her political career, Hillary Clinton has been ridiculed and attacked for her more aggressive rhetorical style. Unlike some of her predecessors, whether they be other First Ladies, or other women of the Senate, she has chosen to take stronger and more, “masculine” stands on the topics she deems worthy of debate. This theme in her political career has stayed true, especially in her recent Presidential campaign against the Republican nominee Donald Trump.

In the first Presidential Debate of this 2016 election, the overall consensus showed that polls were tallying a higher positive response to the approaches and rhetorical strategies that Hillary took, rather than Trump’s. 

As we discussed in class, there are some very simple reasons as to why Hillary came away with a higher percentage of the polls after this debate. First of all, as stated previously, Hillary is not afraid to speak her mind and fight back against anyone. This has been the double edged sword of her career, if you will, because women’s roles in society, whether in politics or not, has been to be the overall, “mother figure” or, “care-taker.” Hillary has not always fit into this traditional role, especially because she has chosen a career that is still predominately male. However, this characteristic has allowed her the chance to have a the real possibility to be first female President America has ever had.

Before the debate, Hillary was expected to take a very calm and controlled response to whatever Trump had to say in the debate. She has been accused of being abrasive and “wishy washy” due to some of her past allegiances to different causes. For this and other reasons, she was supposed to maintain a calm and even demeanor in order to counter balance Donald Trump’s extremely controversial rhetorical style. This would hopefully make her seem more relatable and therefore fill the more traditional womanly rhetorical role. Hillary in the end did take a more laid back role, in which made Trump seem more hot headed than he has been trying to come off which only enforced her claims against him. This was an overall successful strategy that she must maintain in order to clutch the candidacy later on.