NYT: Asked if a Woman Can Win, 2020 Candidates Offer an Easy Answer: 'I Have'

[crazytown]

NYT, May 5, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/us/politics/women-candidates-2020-election-electability.html

“More than half of the House districts that flipped from Republicans to Democrats were won by women.”


Asked if a Woman Can Win, 2020 Candidates Offer an Easy Answer: ‘I Have’

snip At this early stage of the Democratic presidential primary, much of the discussion among voters has focused on the singular desire of defeating Mr. Trump, and selecting a nominee who’s best suited to that task. But while that line of thinking has largely been associated with well-known veteran male politicians, particularly former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the women running in the historically diverse Democratic field, several of whom have a demonstrated track record of winning over Republican voters, have been telling anyone who will listen that they, too, are equipped to beat the president.

snip As they now campaign for president, they are encountering some of the same misogyny that Mrs. Clinton faced when she ran in 2016. They are running up against assumptions voters and pundits have about what presidential leadership looks like, battling a presidential archetype where men are the only touchstones.

snip As a result, they are frequently asked to explain why they believe they have paths to victory, and prove they can win over prized working-class voters in critical states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. This has come even as polls have consistently found that numerous Democrats — including multiple women — enjoy an early edge in head-to-head matchups against Mr. Trump. “We have 45 presidents who have been men. And seeing a woman in that role is still something that we’re not used to,” said Kimberly Peeler-Allen, a co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building the political power and leadership of black women.

She noted that the Democratic women running for president had been forced to answer for Mrs. Clinton’s defeat in 2016, and to allay concerns from voters that a woman can win the presidency. The men in the race don’t face such burdens.

She also pointed to last year’s midterm elections, in which more than half of the House districts that flipped from Republicans to Democrats were won by women.

snip Ms. Warren, Ms. Gillibrand, Ms. Harris and Ms. Klobuchar can all claim an interesting distinction: They have never lost an election in their political careers. All of the most prominent male Democratic candidates, including Mr. Biden, Mr. Buttigieg, Mr. O’Rourke, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, have lost at least one.

[uawchild]

1. misogyny in politics remains an issue

It will be an issue until a woman becomes President and once and for all smashes thu the thickest of glass ceilings.

[dlk]

2. This Question is Sexist-Hillary Already Won the Most Votes in a Presidential Election, by Millions

It discounts and minimizes women's victories, e.g., the most recent Congressional elections.

[DownriverDem]

3. Too bad

Americans are far behind the rest of the world when it comes to women as leaders. Exactly why I support Biden/Harris. We have never had a woman VP. Harris would then be in line to be President.

[crazytown]

4. Hillary came within a whisker didn't she?

Gender was a factor but there were plenty of others. The consensus is she would have won the EC handily without Comey’s October Surprise.

How did Trump do with white men?

Obama & HRC’s Exit Polls.

Romney 62%, Obama 36%
Trump 62% Clinton 31% Stein 3%

[DownriverDem]

6. Not the same

Coming close is not winning.

[crazytown]

7. The same or otherwise, it is not an argument

that a woman can’t win.

[Honeycombe8]

5. Good point (that last sentence). nt