US elections. Where is my constituency (i.e women)?

29 replies

Yellownotblue · 30/09/2020 22:30

I’ll start by saying I’m not American, and therefore I don’t have a constituency as such. But, I’m Canadian, British and have mixed race kids, so I’m as invested in it as any American 😁

There are obviously loads of Americans who are single issue voters (the single issue usually being guns/abortion). Nothing can be done to sway these voters.

Still, in the last election 52% white women and 68% white men voted for Trump. In itself this is a terrible indictment of white American men, who mostly managed to demonstrate they are unable to get behind and support a woman (HRC). I honestly don’t know how white men can ever redeem themselves for that. The fact that tho has been largely been swept under the carpet is bewildering.

Leaving white men aside, there are a few percentage points of the white women vote up for grabs, and this could sway the election. White women have been polling low for Trump this time. Still, I was struck by how the presidential debate had nothing to offer women. I don’t think Trump mentioned women a single time. It’s as if we don’t exist. How come this is acceptable?

To be clear - I’m emphasising white voters here, because the overwhelming majority of black and Latino voters voted Democrat last time, as in all the previous elections, and therefore there is a feeling (for better or for worse) that their vote is in the bag for the Democrats. I can’t imagine that changing now, especially after this awful debate.

So the issue is, where are the decent white men? And how come white women don’t matter in this election, that they are entirely left out of the debate issues?

OP posts:

BlackWaveComing · 01/10/2020 00:31

I don't disagree.

At the same time, most people don't have the luxury of voting with the long term in mind. I think the US approach to health care keeps voters trapped in short-termism, and that's not their fault as individuals at the ballot box.

Goosefoot · 01/10/2020 00:28

A Democrat vote before they went full gender over sex would reliably be of more help to women and children re access to health care, which is huge.

For me, if I was voting in the US, my biggest concern is that Biden represents the same kind of politics that resulted in larger and larger parts of the population defecting from political engagement and the election of Trump, who is a symptom of a problem far bigger than he himself represents.

Would a vote for Biden, which seems most responsible short term, mean the Democrats believe the story they have been telling themselves for years about heir political direction and representation? Because if it does, if they keep offering Clintons and Obamas and Bidens, if they keep being global corporatists who push identity politics as a way to claim the moral high ground, there will be further alienation and breakdown of social and political cohesion. There will still be an opening for a Trump to win an election, and maybe worse than just win it. And the next Trump might not be an incompetent narcissist, he might be smart, and charming, and have some kind of real agenda which could be just about anything.

BlackWaveComing · 01/10/2020 00:09

Yeah, no, not that simple. And I very much doubt the black male constituency is vastly more pro-woman than white males.

Last election you had an enormous range of intersecting moods and concerns, ranging from outright misogyny through to outright white supremacy with a million and one valid positions in between. And by valid I don't mean I agree with a Trump vote, just that a reasonable person could see why, for example, an uneducated, unemployed voter might want to 'shake things up' by denying the DNC their vote.

Neither party places women and children as a policy priority. Unsurprising. The Dems just have their abortion rights issue to point at, but just as Labour in the UK doesn't have an explicit and central commitment to women and children's lives and needs, neither do Dems.

The idea of a left wing party that radically centres women and children in their pitch for election is a pipe dream. We don't live in that world. If we did, there might not be a need for feminism. The parties reflect an age old animus towards women, whereby their needs as a class are seen as subordinate to 'universal' issues.

A Democrat vote before they went full gender over sex would reliably be of more help to women and children re access to health care, which is huge.

Individual voters need to weigh up whether the destruction of women as a sex class in law by Dems is a price they'll pay for functional government and healthcare.

Some will, some won't. Some don't vote on so-called 'women's issues' but on policy to do with tax or guns or the courts or state rights or any number of other issues.

Goosefoot · 30/09/2020 23:05

So, I think that voting behaviour is actually a lot different than people sometimes think. Most people are used to voting, fairly often, for someone they think has certain bad ideas, or immoral behaviours, or where they really disagree with certain things they do.

At the same time, most people have a few issues that weigh really heavily with them, and affect them more personally. And most, even if they don't admit it, tend to weigh the things that touch them most - even if there are other things that they think are, in the abstract, as important.

I don't think this is down to people being selfish, it's more that people feel their responsibilities as a sort of set of concentric circles. An example that might resonate with many here is a special concern around women's issues. But the thing is, for those who don't feel that special connection, they probably have other things where they do feel it. Maybe over labour issues, or military questions, whatever. For a lot of people it is around jobs and housing and healthcare.

When we look at who voted for or against Trump in the last election, in the end a lot comes down to who they associate with being more likely to operate within the real of their special concerns. Most will have some significant issues with candidates on both sides. Other issues will have some bearing, but not in quite the same way.

A fair number of Latinos actually voted for Trump last election, I suspect fewer will this time but the Democrats are foolish to think they have them in the bag.

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