Election Day: Tue 11/8
In the waning days of this way-too-long presidential campaign, I think most of us agree with Condoleezza Rice, who, when asked by CNN last week for a comment on Donald Trump’s remark that she should have been more of a “bitch” when dealing with other countries, responded, “Can’t wait until November 9!”
For those not good with dates, that’s the day after the election. And for those of us tired of hearing demeaning terms for women tossed around like candy at a community parade, for those of us tired of hearing Mexicans called “rapists and drugs dealers,” for those of us tired of hearing that African-Americans live in hell on earth, for those of us tired of hearing that all Muslims are responsible for a handful of Islamic terrorists, for those of us tired of hearing immigrants and refugees, Jews, the disabled and veterans and prisoners of war insulted, that day can’t come soon enough if it brings about Donald Trump’s disappearance from politics.
These waning days have especially brought forth a torrent of pain from women — who make up the voting majority. And, as Trump has unapologetically lobbed one attack after another at women, the media sees its beloved “dead heat” slipping away. Hillary has an almost insurmountable lead in every poll.
Please help translate that into real votes.
The moment when the race began to slip inexorably from his grasp was when, in the first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton brought up a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, whom Donald Trump had shamed for a small weight gain, dubbing her “Miss Piggy.” It seemed like a trivial moment that could have easily been deflected by a more astute candidate with a response like “That was an error in judgment and I really regret it now.”
But Donald Trump is not that candidate. In the following week, women (and many men) observed in horror as he doubled down, unleashing his famous 3am twitter storm, attacking Machado and telling people to go watch her sex tape — which doesn’t exist.
Then, two weeks later, the tape surfaced of him boasting about how he imposes himself sexually on women and gets away with it because he’s a “star.” Once again, he defended his words as mere “locker room talk,” calling the women who stepped up to say, yes, he had done to them exactly what he admitted doing, liars and threatened to sue them once the election is over.
For many people, this was more illuminating than anything the candidate — whose policy positions are hard to discern anyway— said about any issue. For women especially, it exposed his contempt for them and revealed that to him, we are not really human.
The fallout is occurring in private and public conversations, in real life and on social media. Many people see more clearly why Hillary, so experienced, knowledgeable and qualified, has been so reviled, despite running against the least qualified candidate in American history. We understand how little we are valued and how little what we do, say and know is valued. The routine shows of contempt — the caller who won’t believe a woman is the person in charge and asks to speak to the “real” owner, the men who go off and talk business, excluding women whose positions are equal to theirs — have coalesced into anger and determination that the Republican candidate never get within miles of the White House.
Think about what women’s lives would look like if he were to win: the mass public would have accepted the idea that sexual imposition is insignificant and routine. Complete Republican control of federal government would mean the reversal of women’s reproductive rights and block any move toward equal pay or the kind of family leave policies every other developed nation has. No wonder there is a huge gender gap showing up in the polls.
The candidates are out on the campaign trail, making what’s referred to as their “closing arguments.” Trump’s speech in Gettysburg was widely dubbed his “Grievanceberg Address” as he whined about how the election and the polls are rigged and the media, which gave him the mountains of free exposure that allowed him to dominate the GOP primary, is unfair to him.
Hillary’s upbeat speech at the Tri-C Metro campus Friday October 21 — the photostream is above — was filled with positive ideas for making everyone’s lives better and, she assured us, for allowing women to use the full range of their talents without being handicapped by gender.
While sadly it’s likely that the demeaning attitude toward women provoked by Trump won’t go away with his defeat, electing Hillary can go a long way toward providing an antidote. And to purge the poison, she needs to win big. This is why no one should stay home, even though it appears she’s got this election in the bag. I’m not going to say “don’t get complacent,” because Democrats don’t do complacent — we’re pessimists by nature, believing, like a flip side to Trump, that positive polls must be overlooking something. But we urge everyone to make sure everyone they know gets to the polls and if you’ve got some time, help get out the vote in your community. Go to hillaryclinton.com to find out how.
