Female voters are pinning their hopes on President Biden’s re-election campaign ahead of his expected rematch with former President Trump.
A poll released this week found support for Biden among women is increasing, giving the campaign some optimism amid tough polling and a difficult next 10 months.
The president has paid special attention to appealing to women voters, especially around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade last month. This coincides with a ramp-up of the campaign, focusing on key states he needs to win again in 2024, such as South Carolina, Michigan and Nevada.
And some experts say President Trump’s recent “unforced errors,” coupled with his loss in a defamation lawsuit to E. Jean Carroll, could hurt Trump among this demographic. is warning.
A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found that 58% of women say they support Biden, up from 53% in December. Meanwhile, 53% of men surveyed said they support Trump, which is “virtually unchanged” from 51% in December.
“Gender demographics tell a remarkable story: Driven by female voters in just the past few weeks, a head-to-head race against Trump has turned into a narrow lead for Biden,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst. said Tim Malloy in the report.
According to data, Biden won 55 percent of the women’s vote in 2020, compared to Trump’s 44 percent. Pew Research Center. The numbers show an increase for Trump, who won 39% of the female vote in 2016, compared to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s 54%.
Roe’s ouster in 2022 gives Democrats an opportunity to win over female voters. Biden has worked to reach out to women on reproductive rights issues, and she especially credits Trump with putting an end to Roe.
“The coalition that sent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House will grow with the Biden-Harris administration’s strong victories and resolve the issues that matter most to voters who will decide this election, including protecting women’s rights. Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told The Hill.
“As we’ve seen in election after election, Donald Trump’s anti-women MAGA policies fail. This November will be no exception,” Hitt said.
Republicans see reason for concern, pointing to past elections in which women played key roles in Democratic coalitions.
“This reflects what happened in 2020, which was a very troubling year for Republicans,” said Republican strategist Dennis Gisham. “What I’m seeing is that this trend isn’t working. It probably has something to do with the emotional feeling that Republican women like me have. or that women are often the targets of Donald Trump’s attacks. ”
Trump’s latest target is his remaining Republican primary opponent, Nikki Haley. After defeating Ms. Haley in her New Hampshire primary last month, Mr. Trump spent much of her night’s primary speech attacking her, mocking Ms. Haley’s attire and calling her was called “bird brain”.
“Whether you like his policies or not, this doesn’t make sense at all,” Gisham said of the attack.
“Everything is set up for Donald Trump to win in terms of the policies and direction of our country and how people feel about it, but it’s almost as if he’s making unforced errors at the expense of Republican women’s votes. “It’s like committing a crime on the ‘side,” she said.
Democrats hope to repeat 2022 this year. It came months after Roe was overturned, when women came to the polls and gave Democrats better-than-expected results.
“Trump has already overturned Roe to go after women and continues to brag about it. For anyone who cares about their basic rights, this is a no-brainer choice. One of these candidates They have already taken freedom from one woman and are restoring it to another,” said Alexandra Ramanna, a former press secretary for President Biden who focuses on reproductive rights.
Female voters are also in the spotlight this week, with all the talk about megastar Taylor Swift and whether she will run in the 2024 election in support of Biden. Although conservatives have advanced conspiracy theories against her, the Biden campaign is reportedly counting on her support, which could be a big boost with women and younger voters.
“This is an unforced error,” Gisham said of Republicans targeting Swift. “There’s no need for that.”
Trump has also been in the spotlight over a legal battle that began in 2019 over allegations of sexual assault against Carroll in the 1990s. Last week, Carroll won tens of millions in compensation.
Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said, “We’ve been seeing a lot of him in the E. Jean Carroll scandal, including his reaction to Nikki Haley’s candidacy in New Hampshire.” Told. She said, “All these things are like, ‘Oh yeah, I remember that.'”
When asked about its appeal to female voters, the Trump campaign expressed confidence in its chances against Biden, citing polls showing the president trailing Trump.
“There are more than 100 polls showing President Trump beating Joe Biden, including Joe Biden leading in every key battleground state and winning by double digits among independents. It includes recent polling,” Trump press secretary Caroline Leavitt told The Hill.
“Key Democratic constituencies such as African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and women are supporting President Trump because they are tired of Crooked Joe’s record high inflation, open borders, crime and chaos. Joe Biden no longer has a base of support.”
Although some experts have cautioned that there is plenty of room for change in polls between now and November, the Quinnipiac poll’s findings suggest that in terms of the gender gap between Republicans and Democrats, He claims it’s not a big surprise.
“Everything we know about how women vote and how they vote differently than men predicts that a gender gap exists and that that gender gap will favor Democratic candidates. ” said Mr. Walsh.
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