Trump
has a women's issue
Some women have voted Republican all their life
In the church that forms the basis of the many small town's social life, they are told from a young age that the Democrats are going to hell. Many voted for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020, but this year, some have made a significant and drastic decision: They are voting for Kamala Harris.
Some of the women that have voted Republican all their lives, won't vote for Trump this time. One says, “I'm a Republican. It's part of my identity. But I can no longer in good conscience support Trump. His character is too bad — both to be a businessman and especially to be president,” she says.
She is an example of what could be Trump's biggest problem in the November 5 election, which ultimately can cost him victory: the support of American women. Since Trump entered the political scene, his popularity with women has declined with every presidential election, and this year, it is set to be weaker than ever.
This is a problem for him because the election is set to be historically close, and the margins will determine the outcome, and because statistics show that American women are consistently better at getting out and voting than American men.
It's now or never if Trump wants to convince women that he's the right candidate, so on Wednesday, he will appear at a town hall on Fox News, where an all-female audience will ask him questions on an open screen.
For some women, the race is over. Some had hoped that Nikki Haley would win the primary so she could stay in the Republican camp. Still, with Trump as the party's nominee, they can no longer vote Republican. They say no thanks to a convicted felon.
Another woman says that the hammer fell on January 6, 2021, when she watched in amazement the scenes of Congress under attack on TV. Since then, her decision has been cemented by the many lawsuits against Trump, who is now convicted of crimes. The storm in Congress finally made her drop her vote for the Republicans.
She asks, "I can't believe he's a convicted felon. When in my lifetime or the history of the United States have we ever allowed, or thought it was okay, to have a convicted felon running for president?"
Many usually vote based on classic conservative values, but much more is at stake this year than politics. They describe their decision to vote Democratic as “putting country over party.”
For them, this year's election is about something as fundamental as the survival of democracy and the constitution, and the actual politics will have to wait. It's now or never!