Liberal women find safe haven online
Long a bellwether state, no Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio since the advent of the modern two-party system and no Democrat since 1960. Hillary Clinton drew just 43 per cent of the vote four years ago, worst showing of a Democratic nominee since Walter Mondale.
Indeed, Ohio had seemed so comfortable a Republican niche this time around — certainly in the state’s rural and heavily working-class districts — that Democratic PAC Priorities USA, a voter-centric advocacy organization for the grassroots progressive movement, didn’t even include the state in its national strategy at first. But the winds of change are blowing, although it’s a toss-up whether Trump’s buttress outside Ohio’s major cities can withstand a gathering storm. Both parties have been pouring money into the state — with its 18 electoral college votes — and the Democrats have significantly more of it to marshal the troops.
Latest polls show Trump with a slight edge over Joe Biden, 48 to 45 per cent, although the gap narrows among respondents when asked their impression of the president’s performance — 50 per cent approval, 49 per cent disapproval.
Four years ago, according to Ohio exit polls, Trump’s victory here was propelled by the four point favour he enjoyed in the suburbs.
One of those votes was cast by Parks. “Sadly. I’m embarrassed about it now,” she admits.
At a rally in Johnstown, Pa., last week, Trump bluntly pleaded for women like Parks to stick with him. “Suburban women, will you please like me? Please. Please.”
Parks has had enough. “Four more years of Trump will literally destroy the country.”
The “mom brigade” has been girding its loins in Ohio, lifelong liberals joining with disaffected conservatives in a tom-tom echo chamber playing out noisily on social media. Among its most effective proponents is Katie Paris, founder of Red, Wine and Blue, which she describes as an all-female team of “P.T.A. mamas and digital divas” focused on organizing the female suburban contingent.
With her husband, Paris moved from Washington to the upscale Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights eight years ago, carting an impressive resume of political and media involvement, including helping to start up Media Matters, a leftleaning non-profit organization that scrutinizes rightleading media outlets. Red, Wine and Blue, however, was born of the 2018 midterm elections. “What happened all across the U.S. was the electoral culmination of this womenled response to the Trump presidency. Democrats took back the U.S. House of Representatives and that was really because of women in the suburbs.”
Democrats picked up 43 seats; 38 of those were in suburban districts. But in Ohio, Democrats lost all but one of the statewide congressional races. “I became very worried about my state. Politically, we’d been this purple state, this swing state. And all a sudden we’d voted for Trump by eight points and then this disappointing 2018. I just thought, where am I raising my family and how are we going to contribute to reclaiming our democracy in 2020?”
That was the woke moment, the 41-year-old mother of two young children explains, sitting on the sun-drenched deck of her home, same place likeminded women have gathered to talk and strategize over glasses of wine, hence the quasi-eponymous — and deliberately cheeky — Red, Wine and Blue.
Ohio had underperformed for the Democrats in 2018, an anomaly that needed correcting, Paris concluded. “There was no concerted outreach here to suburban women and women period. So, what if we really empowered women to own our voices, to recognize the power we have with our voices, particularly when we act collectively.”
She began travelling around the state, taking its pulse. “I started meeting all these women who’d never been involved in politics but woke up following the 2016 election and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this has happened.’ ”
They launched “secret” Facebook groups that burgeoned into a muscular force. “They can remake the face of political involvement in the U.S. You don’t have to be a political activist to make a difference. You can be a busy mom balancing all of life’s demands and still be involved. And your voice, your network, can inspire others to be involved.”
Soccer moms stirring. From lamenting to mobilizing. Eight suburban mom organizers across the state. “We don’t hire professionals, we hire P.T.A. moms.” A digital team that utilizes humour for online flexing. A cross-platform entity that teases its June Cleaver bona fides. Red, Wine and Blue recently hit the million-woman mark on Facebook.
“Ever since Trump started tweeting about so-called suburban housewives, we’ve really been in quite the moment: ‘I’ll show you what a suburban housewife is.’
“Much like his election created a backlash of women standing up and saying no, that is happening in the lead-up to the 2020 election, particularly among suburban women, because of his pretty pathetic attempts to target us.”
Paris, with no shred of respect for Trump, takes a stab at why white soccer moms succumbed so easily. “A lot of white suburban women in particular just thought, ‘This seems like an OK option for me, I’m tired of the status quo, maybe he’ll shake things up and how much damage can he do anyway?’ And meanwhile, ‘I don’t really like Hillary Clinton.’
“And now they have seen how much damage he can do. They have seen that they can’t have their children in the room if he’s on television. They have seen what damage he does to other families’ children. And while many white suburban women may feel like they might be OK, they know that we as a country are not.”
The impact of Trump, adds Paris, has been felt by people both communally and personally. “He’s become so extreme, everybody is impacted. And ultimately the coronavirus has put everything into stark relief. And we as women have been the ones carrying the most stress in the midst of all this, because of the schooling, the inability to see our parents and grandparents.
“It’s all personal now. We’re in a dramatically different place.”
It has been challenging, particularly for Ohio women who live in strong swaths of “red country,” sometimes discouraged from showing their own colours.
“Not super-respectful,” says Lindsay Pollock, of her heavily Republican community’s attitude toward the Democratic minority. “We’re outnumbered, we feel intimidated. We’re nervous about putting up Biden signs. I’ve had my Biden sign stolen, I’ve had a Black Lives Matter sign stolen. People are afraid to even put Biden stickers on their cars, worried that the cars will get keyed in the parking lot.”
Pollock had not been seriously politically engaged until her then Grade 3 son’s class held a mock election. And Trump won. “That really upset me. These are little kids. So I had to have a conversation with my kids. Along with most of the country, I think, after the last election I fell into depression and despair. Like, what just happened?”
Since connecting with Paris, Pollock, 41, initiated her own Facebook group, Like-Minded Geauga County Friends, now up to about 1,000 members. “It’s not about Trump-bashing and complaining. It’s to create positive energy. In a red state, trying to be a light in the darkness.”
And, through a vigorous card-writing campaign, promoting voter registration.
She was “befuddled” by the 2016 outcome and then, as Trump entrenched his Trumpdom, aghast. “I think people just voted for change. They wanted an outside player that wouldn’t be politics as usual.”
What they got, says Pollock, was derangement in a White House transformed into a citadel on the hill for white supremacists and conspiracy theorists.
Now, just over a week out from Election Day, Pollock is cautiously optimistic, even if Ohio cleaves to Trump.
“Mom-friends has restored my sanity.”