‘Can a woman win?’ hovers over Democrats
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Some people whisper it, some apologize for it, and some are very careful to mention their neighbors — their neighbors would be the ones to ask.
“Do you really think a woman could be elected president?”
In ways subtle and overt, Democrats keep hearing that same question, even after debates in which California Sen. Kamala Harris commanded the stage and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren dominated the policy discussion.
It’s the anxiety of a party still carrying the scars of its 2016 defeat.
“My colleagues, some have said that to me, and I just have to push back and say, ‘Wait just a minute,”’ said Rep. Barbara Lee, a California congresswoman, who worked as a young organizer for former Rep. Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential bid. “I’m just quite frankly shocked to still hear them in 2019.”
Three years after nominating the first woman in history to head a presidential ticket, nearly six months after a wave of energized women swept Democrats into power in the House, and as a record number of women run for president, the party finds itself grappling with the strangely enduring question.
Privately, Democratic strategists, candidates and officials say they’ve been alarmed by how deeply doubts about female electability have taken hold. In polling, interviews and focus groups, a portion of the party’s voters suggest they’re eager to see a woman on the ticket but fear that putting her in the top slot could cost them the White House — again.
The women running for president are not seen as just being themselves — or just candidates. They are women candidates. That can be infuriating to prominent female Democrats, who argue that their party is adopting a retrograde narrative based in little more than posttraumatic stress from the last presidential campaign.
“The fact that a woman hasn’t won yet does not mean that a woman cannot win,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the highest-ranking Democratic woman in Senate leadership.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has made female empowerment a theme of her candidacy, said the 2018 elections showed that voters are comfortable voting for women.
“They just need more exposure,” Gillibrand said of the female presidential candidates.
For years, organizations that promote women in politics argued that having multiple women running for president — rather than the one-and-only nature of Clinton’s campaigns — would demystify the idea of a female president. Now, with six women running, they are discussing how to more aggressively dispel the question.
“I’m urging voters and activists, I’m urging donors and I’m urging the entire Washington press community that this race is wide open,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List. “Don’t let yourself get limited by things like gender.”
Still, in the early months of the contest, 76-year-old Joe Biden is considered the front-runner.
“There are people who are not necessarily strong Biden people, but they think he’s the strongest candidate,” said Sara Riley, a 59-year-old lawyer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “They love Sen. Harris or Sen. Warren, but they are concerned about whether they can win.”
A recent poll conducted by Ipsos for The Daily Beast showed that while threequarters of respondents said they were personally comfortable with a female president, only a third believed their neighbors would feel the same — a question pollsters ask to get a sense of opinions that voters may be too embarrassed to tell someone they hold themselves.
“Honestly, I love Elizabeth Warren, I just worry that we as a society are not ready for that,” said Ann Mason, 44, from Cedar Rapids. “This election is far too important. We just have to get Donald Trump out.”
Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, one of the six women running, had a message for voters like Mason: “We should not do it to ourselves that a woman cannot be a president.”
Warren often mentions her 2012 Senate victory against Scott Brown, a well-liked Republican incumbent — a win that made her the first woman elected to the Senate in state history. Her implicit message: She can win tough races.
Harris also highlights her barrier-breaking career as the first female district attorney in San Francisco, the first black female attorney general of California and the second black female senator. But to some, her ability to break barriers may not be enough to dispel their doubts.
“I don’t think she can win. And I’m sorry to have to say that,” said Shantell Smith, 32, from Greenville, South Carolina, who is supporting Harris. “As a black woman myself, I think that as much as we would like to believe there’s been this huge shift in this country, we have seen the reality that people will fight back against change.”