Donna Brazile
Gender is always at play in politics and always has been. Abigail Adams, the wife of the second president and mother of the sixth president of the United States, had to remind her husband, “Remember the ladies,” as he left for Independence Hall. Respect for women’s equality was as much a part of the American Revolution as the Declaration of Independence.
One of my closest allies in politics is a professor of women’s and gender studies at a major public institution. After listening to Trump, the GOP’s presumptive nominee, she sent an urgent message. Perhaps her message was intended for Democrats, but every American women would do well to heed her, no matter their partisan affiliation.
I’ve edited her remarks for brevity, but the following are 95 percent her words:
“Are Dems missing the nontraditional dynamics of this race? What matters more than anything is if Trump successfully degrades the reputation of Clinton at this moment. …
“Demean, degrade. This is how bullying succeeds. It is how harassment succeeds. It turns good people into bystanders — not upstanders. Folks are missing the social psychology of the Trump rhetoric. It works. Ignore it at (women’s) risk.
“People identify with the bully and the bully’s power. Even all the Republican men have come onboard. No integrity, no respect. …
“The media (fosters) Trump’s surge because they only report on his personal attacks. Clinton’s and Sanders’ policies are mostly invisible except in sound bites. And only when they attack each other.” This woman is right. But Trump, in the guise of fighting “political correctness,” is attempting to win by debasing women’s dignity in general, and Hillary Clinton’s specifically.
That’s what Trump does with opponents. He doesn’t attack policies, ever. He’s apparently incapable of arguing issues or sound policy.
Instead, Trump insults opponent’s bodies, their character, their intelligence. He even mocked a handicapped reporter in a crude imitation of the man’s affliction.
Every human is entitled to respect. But Trump refuses to give respect because insults about his opponents’ bodies and brains get votes.
Recently, he said, “If Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she’d get 5 percent of the vote.” What Trump wouldn’t man up to and plainly say is: “Clinton gets votes not by her skills, or smarts, or sweat, but only because she’s female.” Let’s look at that.
If Hillary Clinton were a man, would New Yorkers have elected her U.S. senator by 12 percentage points in a landslide? Would New Yorkers have re-elected her a second time by a 34 percent margin? What were they thinking?
If Hillary Clinton were a man, would Barack Obama have done better in the 2008 Democratic primaries? Obama defeated Clinton in 2008 by just 42,622 votes out of 18 million popular votes cast.
Did the Senate confirm Clinton 94 to 2 only because she’s a woman? Did the National Law Journal twice vote her one of “the most influential 100 lawyers in America” because Hillary’s a woman?
I suppose the New York University Annual Survey of American Law would not have dedicated its 52nd volume to Clinton if she were a man with the same accomplishments.
Neither would Newsweek have rated Clinton as the “13th most powerful person on the planet, and the most powerful American woman” in 2009.
Google “List of Hillary Clinton Awards and Honors,” and you’ll find a Wikipedia page filled with dozens of honors and awards for Clinton’s public service, beginning with her years as Arkansas first lady up to her most recent time as a private citizen.
Trump’s Wikipedia page lists 13 awards and honors. Among them, the “1990 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his role in ‘Ghosts Can’t Do It,’” a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a key to the city of Doral, Florida, and a nomination — by an “anonymous U.S. politician” for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump also was awarded an honorary doctorate of business administration in 2010 by Robert Gordon University, which, alas, they revoked last December.
You know what? If Clinton gets elected, I’ll bet Trump will say it was only because she’s a woman. I have his history on my side.
So Trump uses gender for himself, but then calls out Clinton for saying her experience as a woman is value added to her presidential credentials (which, of course, I think it is).
What I love about Clinton’s response is that she’s embracing it — “Deal me in.” She used that line earlier, but it has taken on a whole new meaning. It’s not whiny; it’s not saying he’s a sexist. She’s saying these issues matter and she’s the one who is going to make them a priority. Deal with it.
Finally, should I mention Clinton’s current delegate lead triples if she were running under the Republican’s primary rules? “If the Democrats used Republican (rules), Clinton would have wrapped up the nomination long, long ago,” says the 538 Blog.
As the Road Runner would say, “Beep! Beep!”
–Donna Brazile is a senior Democratic strategist, a political commentator and contributor to CNN and ABC News, and a contributing columnist to Ms. Magazine and O, the Oprah Magazine.
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