No one expects Kamala to get a majority of white male voters–especially not when Trump’s campaign is pitched so squarely at them, and only them. And the great news is that she doesn’t even have to. After all, if only white men could vote in 2012, Barack Obama would’ve won only five states against Mitt Romney. Yet the diverse coalition President Obama put together was able to win the popular vote by 5 million, and the EC by the last “non squeaker” it’s had. We’re talking not only all the usual blue states, and blue-leaning states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, but also Ohio, Iowa, and Florida too–all of them by more than 100,000 votes.
Now Kamala will do well with black, Asian, and Latin women, but it’s the same white women that Hillary didn’t win a majority of that will determine this election. God help us, because if a clear majority of these women were favoring Kamala (or Biden before her), the polling would reflect that instead of a statistical tie.
I’m not sure what Trump would have to do to repel these women, but he’s certainly already done it by being a lifelong misogynist, getting abortion banned in most red states (and defending this completely), “gram ’em by the p—,” endless sexist comments, proposals that make it clear he wants to ban abortion nationwide any way he can (like getting the FDA to declare the abortion pill “unsafe”), credible rape allegations, credible domestic abuse allegations, and not even really considering a woman for VP (his shortlist was three men).
Not to mention, the RNC was the most openly misogynistic convention in recent memory, and Trump absolutely played up his “macho man” image with speakers like Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock, and even letting UFC’s Dana White speak before him at the closing night of the convention. So will all this finally drive a stake through the heart of Trump’s (inexplicable) appeal to white women? Maybe causing them to support Kamala by not just a fraction of a point, but at least 5 points?
I wish, but no…
These women didn’t vote for Hillary in big numbers (she actually lost a majority of white women, which is outrageous), and I highly doubt they’ll feel much warmer towards Kamala. The “Karen” memes have called attention to the fact that white women are not less racist than white men as an aggregate group, and many of them will be absolutely seething with jealousy if a black woman is the first woman POTUS of the U.S.
I don’t want this to be true. I’m just saying it is true, and I think too many Democrats don’t understand that aspect at all. [Too often, I think they view it as “white men in one category and everyone else fighting for equality in the other,” but there’s real divisions between the most heavily oppressed groups and white Latinos, white gay men/women, some Asian groups, and especially white women that they’re not really picking up on.]
All Kamala really has to do is get a small majority of white women to win this election. The future of American democracy may very well be in the hands of a group that has never (historically) pushed to help the Kamalas of the world.
You tried to warn us. White women were never going to get past their jealousy long enough to do the right thing. Now we are ALL doomed