Has Trump really lost the female vote?

Throughout this election the media has used all of Trump’s demeaning rhetoric to shape his narrative. However, over the past few days Trump has engaged in silence to prevent further upset with potential female voters.

Silence is Golden

Since his “nasty women” comment, Trump has made a large effort to transform his rhetoric from denial to what he considers to be the real issues. By the end of October Trump adopted the strategy to ignore the allegations and focus on the issues he knows best such as jobs and the economy. Initially I felt that this was a poor strategy and felt that a large majority of America wouldn’t see this as a campaign strategy, but rather a “dismissive attitude towards the concerns of women” (Adamczyk). I personally feel that this is just a diversion tactic to take the focus off of Trump and his demeaning rhetoric used towards women. However, the longer I thought, I began to realize that this was a smart strategy for Trump because he doesn’t do well when he goes off script.

Is there proof?

According to an article published by The Daily Caller News Foundation on November 7th, Trump has made a rather large gain in the polls with female voters (Stucky). In fact the author claims that Trump now has a two point lead over Clinton which is primarily due to his “increasing support from women voters.” According to Investor’s Business Daily IBD tracking poll sh poll5-gender-110116-640x360 ows that Trump’s crude language and actions involving women appear to not have hurt his standing against Clinton. The poll shows that 39% of women have announced their support for Trump, which is the same percentage of su
pport Mitt Romney received in 2012 from women voters.

However, there are still many polls that predict that Trump has in fact lost the educated women vote (Purcell). Nonetheless, the real question of whether or not Trump has greatly lost the female vote will ultimately be seen in the election results.

Now we wait…

At this point it can swing either way. However, I personally believe that the media have used all of Trump’s demeaning comments to shape his narrative. Rhetoric is called into being by the situation and Trumps previous actions have ultimately allowed for this negative narrative to be created. The public often chooses from a small set of stories and this is perfectly seen by how America simply sees Trump as a womanizer. The media and the voters have chosen to remember all the demeaning rhetoric Trump has engaged in. Over the course of this election the media has rightfully persuaded the American women that Trump is a man unworthy of presidency, which I believe will be seen in the election results

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.

The Attacks Continue

Donald Trump has been unsuccessful in winning the female vote simply because of his behavior and attitude towards women. Over the course of this election we have heard verbal assaults, claims of sexual assault, and most recently his announcement of financial assault.

His solution for everything.

Trump is a business man at heart so his most recent remarks in regards to suing his accusers is far from a surprise. During a recent visit to Gettysburg, Pa, Trump told his audience that “the women accusing him of sexual assault will be sued after the election” (Los Angeles Times). Despite the well written speech, the good aspects within it were quickly overshadowed by these comments. Not only did he violate the sacred nature of Gettysburg with this comment, but he also continues to push away the female audience. However, the most significant aspect of this situation can be seen in how Secretary Clinton uses Trumps rhetoric for her benefit.

The hero swings in

Through much of this election, Clinton has spent time using Trump’s rhetoric to further her own campaign. Shortly after Trump made this announcement, Clinton quickly told the press that if Trump was elected president, he would spend his time suing women. She ultimately uses Trump’s own words against him in an attempt to further the gap between Trump and his distant female voters. This all allows Clinton to create the narrative that Trump is a bully and he will attack women verbally, sexually, and financially.

The hypocritical nature

In a response to the lewd 2005 video, Trump announced that he had the most respect for women. However, this whole situation continues to prove otherwise. Rather than simply ignoring the allegations, he has gone out of his way to threaten all these women. In fact, many women across the country believe Trump is using this possible lawsuit as a way to conceal the truth and silence the women who have come forward (Temple Taggart). Women all across the country continue to feel threaten by both Trump’s actions and rhetoric allowing us to conclude that very few women will be supporting him this election day. However, with only two weeks until election day, there is very little Trump can do to mend the distant relationship he has created with women.

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.

How to Not Handle An Accusation

There’s not a guide to follow on how to handle being accused of sexual assault, nonetheless Donald Trump is NOT handling it properly. Even if possible Trump voters refuse to believe in the allegations, the rhetoric he uses against the women is extremely off-putting and could ultimately result in more lost votes.

Allegations

Shortly after the last debate where Trump declared to never having sexually assaulted a women a flood of allegations have come to light. According to websites such as MotherJones and Politico, at least 16 women have accused Trump of sexual assault. Most individuals especially politicians engage in the practice of denial when they are accused of such crimes, however Trump is not a typical politician so he handled the situation a bit differently.

Let the name calling begin

Trump did engage in denial as he told multiple media personal that the allegations were simply lies. However, he then continued to insult all the women accusing him. According to abcNEWS Trump has attacked the accusers by calling them “phony” and “horrible.” However, these names have little impact when compared to what Trump stated to a reporter in regards to one of his accusers, “Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you” (abcnews). Rather than simply denying the allegations and highlighting the respect he has for women, he instead continues to degrade women. Stating such degrading remarks about women only works to hurt the few female voters who remain on his side.

What does this mean

Due to Junkyard journalism these accusations are going to continue to be front page news because every media source is competing for sales. However, Trump reacting to the whole situation in the way that he has only gives the media more power over him. With only 20 days left until election day, Trump is in dier need to appeal to women voters if he wants to win the election. If I was on his campaign team I would highly suggest a final remark that he has never engaged in sexual assault and apologize for the rude comments he has made during the whole process. Nonetheless, as time goes on Trump continues to isolate possible female voters with his rhetoric making it highly unlikely for him to win their vote on election day.

Trump Continues to Isolate Women

Donald Trump continues to isolate potential women voters as he makes excuses rather than simply apologizing. Not only are women across the nation upset with the recent release of Trump’s comments in 2005, but many are also upset with how he handled the situation during the debate.

Is that an apology?!

Before the second debate, Trump released an apology in which he stated, “It was wrong, I was wrong, and I apologize.” However, many people even political leaders believe that his “apology falls short.” People all over the country, especially women feel that Trump’s apology could be best characterized as defiant. The debate would have been the perfect chance for Trump to deliver a real heartfelt apology, but instead he continuously used the same excuse, “it’s locker room talk,” to justify his actions. As we have discussed in class, in order for him to win the election he has to aim his rhetoric towards the moderate female voter. By constantly justifying the words seen in this video as “locker room talk” he continues to distance himself from potential women voters.

What he really said during the debate

If you did watch the debate you probably don’t recall Trump even apologizing for his actions and this is probably because of how sporadic and unemotional his apology was. Trump responds to Cooper, “…this was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it…I apologize to the American people. Certainly I’m not proud of it. But this is locker room talk” (debate transcript/NewYorkTimes) . Instead of simply apologizing for his words, he continues to make excuses then goes on to the subject of ISIS. Not only did he not reply to an emotional question with an emotional answer, but his words also counteracted the previous apology given. All of this ultimately makes him appear insincere, which only helps to further push away any potential female voters.

Can this be reversed?

The real question is can Trump bounce back from this? There have been many instances through the campaign where Trump has said or done unpresidental things, yet maintained his voter base. Even if he maintains his loyal supporters, without the votes of women he has no chance to win this election. One poll released after the video highlights that 63% of voters believe that Trump has NO respect for women. Unless KellyAnne Conway has a few tricks left up her sleeves, it is very unlikely that Trump will get many female votes this November.

sources used:

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/10/11/chris-christie-on-trumps-apology-nr.cnn

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html

www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/us/politics/transcript-second-debate.html?_r=0

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/poll-trump-video-respect-women-22953

www.nytimes.com/2016/10/08/us/politics/donald-trump-apology.html?_r=0

“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.

Attempts to Win Back the Female Vote

Trump’s Campaign Manager to the Rescue

In August it became evident that something had changed in the Donald Trump campaign. Trump shocked people across the nation as he began to appear more presidential than ever before. Trump himself has not changed, but rather his campaign manager. His new manager, Kellyanne Conway has a tough road ahead of her as she tries to help Trump “woo women” voters.

Conway Manages Trump’s Crises

Conway has not been successful in changing Trump’s attitude nor comments towards women, but she has worked to counteract them. The most recent crisis Conway has managed occurred six days after the first presidential debate, where Trump once again isolated possible women voters as he attacked former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado. The campaign tried to counteract his comments with the release of a new ad, “Motherhood,” starring Ivanka Trump. To see the ad click here. The Washington Post describes this latest ad as, “the most overt appeal yet to women voters…”

Trump’s Latest Ad

This ad mainly targets female voters as it shows Ivanka taking on the task of being both a provider and a mother. She uses powerful language such as, “the most important job any woman can have is being a mother, and it shouldn’t mean taking a tax cut,” and “he will provide tax credits for child care, paid maternity leave, and dependent-care savings accounts,”
screen-shot-2016-10-04-at-10-21-10-am to appeal to the women voters. Whether you believe her comments or not, you can’t deny that the adorable children appeal to your emotions. According to Trent and Friedenberg political ads often serve a variety of functions, but I believe that this ads’ main objective is to redefine Trump’s image. This is supported by both the timing of the ad and the rhetoric used within it. Ivanka successfully fulfills her role as a surrogate in this ad, however this one ad can’t undo every sexist comment or action Trump has made. But the creation of this ad is a good first step in appealing to women voters.

sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/30/ivanka-trump-stars-in-new-campaign-ad-to-help-her-father-appeal-to-women/

https://thinkprogress.org/kellyanne-conway-trump-c6b04fba7c12#.6qvsvfk4l

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/09/meet_the_nj_native_whos_running_donald_trumps_camp.html

www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/us/politics/alicia-machado-donald-trump.html

Trump’s Rapport with Women is About to be Nonexistent

How far will he go?

At the rate this campaign keeps going, it’ll be shocking if Trump can win over the hearts and votes of women. As a male outsider looking in, it’s pretty astonishing seeing some of the things that have come out of Trump’s mouth so far pertaining to women. I am no moral compass or ethics administrator by any means, but I’d say it’s becoming a safe bet that the vote count coming from Women in November for the ole Donald may be pretty slim. For example, voters such as Patricia Bennett from Pennsylvania commented on Trump’s comment on Hillary’s stamina from the most recent debate quoting that “Why doesn’t he just say she needs more testosterone…..it’s incredibly distasteful and it doesn’t stop.” As all the cool kids seem to say these days, Trump literally has “no chill.” He’s a loose cannon, especially on his twitter page:

But it doesn’t stop there, friends.

Demeaning female ‘Apprentice’ Contestants

We could talk for hours about countless more examples of ways that Trump has dug his own grave pertaining to women. I’d love to talk about the whole Alicia Machado scenario, but let’s leave that for another day. As of today, October 3rd, one of the hot topics coming from the Associated Press is that Donald Trump Demeaned female “Apprentice” Contestants. We all know that Trump was quite the reality TV star for a portion of his career (I’ll shamefully admit my mom and I used to watch that show pretty religiously), but what seems to have gone on behind the curtain and off the record is what news outlets and the media are raging about right now. According to an article published by the Associated Press today, “Trump called for female contestants to wear shorter dresses that also showed more cleavage, according to contestant Gene Folkes. Several cast members said Trump had one female contestant twirl before him so he could ogle her figure.” One woman contestant even stated that “We were in the boardroom one time figuring out who to blame for the task, and he just stopped in the middle and pointed to someone and said, ‘You’d f*** her, wouldn’t you? I’d f*** her. C’mon, wouldn’t you?’…….

Should we overlook it?

Folks I’m in no way trying to say what you should and shouldn’t believe, but those reports above coming from the “Apprentice” might raise your eyebrows a little higher. Even before this report, 27 percent think less of Trump after the first debate took place. I think Trump has himself a big mountain to climb here, but let’s face it, if he keeps tweeting this kind of stuff, it’s gonna be a high climb.