“In
every presidential election since 1984, women have made up a majority
of all voters – usually between 52% and 53% of the total vote.”
– Chris
Cillizza is a CNN Politics Reporter and Editor-at-Large
And, in Pew poll of
partisan affiliation (June 2020), 56% of women now identify as
Democrats or leaning Democratic while just 42% of men say the same.
That 14-point gender gap "is as large as at any point in the
past two decades," according to a Pew analysis of the data.
Women are voicing their allegiance like never before.
(“In Changing U.S.
Electorate, Race and Education Remain Stark Dividing Lines.” Pew
Research Center. June 02, 2020.)
Michael Hais and Morley
Winograd, co-authors of three books on the millennial generation,
report in Brookings that among voters of each and every racial
background and ethnicity, women have increased their identification
with the Democratic Party.
The effect is most
pronounced among America’s younger generations – Plurals (the
best name for the generation after Millennials) and Millennials –
but a rise in Democratic affiliation, albeit a smaller one, has also
occurred among Gen X’ers, Boomers and even Silents, America’s
oldest adult generation. The trend may be larger or smaller in each
of these categories but always in the same direction.
Hais and Winograd address
the change:
“The most profound
change in American politics today and in the years to come will
result from a massive movement of women into the Democratic Party …
The overwhelming change in political party demographics since
Trump’s victory in 2016 is the culmination of a long-term movement
in party identification and voting behavior among women.
“With the election of
Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, what had been a modest gap of
variable proportions has turned into a chasm so wide no Republican
presidential candidate will be able to cross it for years to come.”
(Michael Hais and
Morley Winograd. “The future is female: How the growing political
power of women will remake American politics. Brookings. February 19,
2020.)
This increasing attachment
to the Democratic Party reflects a deep-seated belief by women that
most Republican men don’t see the world the way they do. No one
could ignore the size and national impact the same shift had on the
outcome of the midterm elections in November 2018. Democrats have
elected the most diverse Congress (and the most women).
The Election of 2020
Women are the most
dominant demographic in determining the outcome of November’s
general election. With the Biden/Harris ticket, the Democratic Party
has solidified its status as the women’s party in American politics
for the foreseeable future.
In the primaries, Biden’s
support was eight percentage points higher on average among women
than men. Once it became clear that Joe Biden was the best bet to
defeat Donald Trump, women flocked to his candidacy.
For example, in Michigan,
among women, who comprised 54% of the Democratic primary electorate,
Biden overwhelmed Bernie Sanders by a stunning margin of 23 points
(58% to 35%). Women of every social class and ethnicity enabled Biden
to beat Sanders in every county in Michigan from university towns to
rural counties “up north” to the City of Detroit.
(Michael D. Hais and
Morley Winograd. “Biden has women to thank for his primary
victories.” Brookings. March 17, 2020.)
In a February 2020
Nationscape survey of likely primary voters, 63 percent of Democratic
women said that their party affiliation was somewhat or very
important to their identity, a statistically significant difference
with men, only 58 percent of whom felt that way about being a
Democrat.
Previous research found
that partisanship is a more important personal factor for women than
for men, with two-thirds of women over 45 saying that being a
Democrat was an important part of their identity.
Women Unite to Defeat
Trump
In 2019, even before Biden
won the nomination, GOP strategist and CEO Sarah Chamberlain said
that suburban women might be willing to vote for former Vice
President Joe Biden over Trump in the 2020 election. Chamberlain, the
head of the Women2Women Conversations Tour, cited focus groups the
nonprofit has held with women across the country, including Democrats
and Republicans. Chamberlain said …
“The women we're
talking to — they like Joe Biden. If it’s Biden on the ticket,
they may be willing to switch.”
(Tess
Bonn. “GOP strategist: Suburban women may be willing to vote for
Biden over Trump.” The Hill. July 23, 2019.)
Carly Fiorina, Republican
candidate for president just four years ago, says that Trump “needs
to go” …
“As citizens, our vote
is more than a check on a box. You know, it’s a statement about
where we want to go, and I think what we need now actually is real
leadership that can unify the country,” she said. “I am
encouraged that Joe Biden is a person of humility and empathy and
character. I think he’s demonstrated that through his life. And I
think we need humility and empathy everywhere in public life right
now. And I think character counts.”
(Edward-Isaac Dovere.
“She Wanted to Be a Republican President. She’s Voting for
Biden.” The Atlantic. June 25, 2020.)
Issues – What Women
Want
Women are looking for
policies that will help them in their everyday lives. Yet beyond
that, they want a candidate who speaks to their values. Women are
disgusted with the tone of our politics, particularly with the
post-2016 surge in sexism. Three-quarters of Democratic and black
women are dissatisfied with how women are treated. In 2018 exit
polls, roughly eight in 10 voters rated sexual harassment a serious
problem.
In particular, they'll be
watching closely for candidates' statements on issues that impact
families and children. For example, compared to men, women are more
worried about school shootings and believe laws regulating gun sales
should be stricter.
On the matter of economics
and jobs, women will be paying close attention to the discussion of
equal pay laws. In 2018, women earned 85% of what men earned,
according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings
of both full- and part-time workers in the United States. Based on
this estimate, it would take an extra 39 days of work for women to
earn what men did in 2018.
(Nikki Graf, Anna
Brown, and Eileen Patten. “The narrowing, but persistent, gender
gap in pay.” Pew Research Center. March 22, 2019.)
And the gender pay gap is
dramatically worse for some groups: Latinas are typically paid just
54 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. Black
women are typically paid just 62 cents for every dollar paid to
white, non-Hispanic men
If the annual wage gap
were eliminated, a typical woman working in the United States would
have enough money to pay for approximately:
“More than a full
additional year of tuition and fees for a four-year public
university, or the full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year
college;
“More than 13
additional months of child care; or
“More than seven
additional months of premiums for employer-based health insurance.”
(“Quantifying
America’s Gender Wage Gap by Race/Ethnicity National.”
Partnership for Women and Families. March 2020.)
Just Defeat Trump
For a lot of women,
defeating Trump is survival in a very clear way. They're losing their
jobs; they don't have health care; and they're worried about their
kids. Trump's abrasive rhetoric and some of his hardline stances such
as family separation at the border and the images of children in
cages marked a turning point for many women.
Many female voters are
paying closer attention to healthcare access and the economic
recovery of our country. Data shows that communities of color are
being the most heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, the COVID
pandemic has also shifted voters’ priorities and outlook. “It’s
exposed many deficits in our social safety net and, frankly, how we
value women in society,” says Heather Colburn, CEO of Run the
World.
(Caitlin Flynn. “How
Women Really Feel About Voting for Joe Biden.” InStyle. August 17,
2020.)
Women: VOTE! VOTE!
VOTE!
Voting is more than just a
civic duty; it is a right. Our political system is based upon the
idea of equal representation, but it has systematically withheld the
right to vote for many. In fact, the 19th
Amendment ratified August 18, 1920, finally gave women the right to
vote: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account
of sex.”
The election of 2020 is
the most important vote in modern times. This comment may seem like a
tired cliché often parroted by politicians; however, this time the
words ring clearly. As David Corn, Mother
Jones' Washington bureau chief, reminds us …
“Donald Trump has
waged a war on norms of governance, the rule of law, productive
discourse, and the media, as he has set a record for uttering false
statements, overseen a regime riddled with corruption, given comfort
to racists, misogynists, and wacko conspiracy theorists, and
displayed a disturbing affinity for autocracy.”
(David
Corn. “The Most Important Election of Our Lives.” Mother
Jones. December 2018.)
The votes of American
women will likely decide the outcome of the 2020 election. As the
coronavirus pandemic has exposed the need for sweeping economic and
social reform, women must step up and cast ballots to defeat the
Trump regime and secure these much-needed changes.
The outcome of this
election will impact every facet of American life. It must be a
genuine exercise in preserving democracy – strong, intelligent,
progressive women are leading the fight and, in doing so, breaking
new ground in American politics.
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