Harris Has an Advantage Over Trump: Being a Woman
The vice president is shying away from giving her campaign a “girls versus boys” theme. But data show women can better deliver to voters.
Girl power.
Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North AmericaVice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is downplaying the fact that, if elected, she’ll be the first woman president. On the other hand, her opponent, Donald Trump, has tried repeatedly reminding voters of this fact by leveling gendered insults at her.
Both campaigns are probably taking these approaches for the same reason: Hillary Clinton played the “woman card” against Trump in 2016 — and lost. While Clinton won the popular vote by nearly three million people, she didn’t secure them in states where she needed the boost the most; Trump defeated her in counties that Barack Obama had won during his election and reelection bids.
The stinging loss and polls since have left us with a damning reality: Some Americans aren’t eager to elect a woman. That line of thinking isn’t just the case in the US. Almost half the population worldwide believes men make better political leaders than women, according to the United Nations Development Programme’s 2023 Gender Social Norms Index.