The Democratic presidential front-runner successfully turned her Republican rival’s sexist dig into a clever fundraising opportunity.
Advertisement
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would be unique presidential nominees, but Clinton is now employing an age-old campaign tactic against the NY businessman: trying to turn his attack against him.
In March, Trump distributed via social media an unflattering image of Heidi Cruz, Trump rival Ted Cruz’s wife, prompting the Texas senator to assert that “strong women scare Donald”.
“I congratulate Secretary Clinton on her victories tonight, and I look forward to issue-oriented campaigns in the 14 contests to come”, he said. Then five days later he said of Clinton, “The only card she’s got is to play the woman card”.
Her statement, which began trending on Twitter nearly immediately, has now turned into the tagline for the new merchandise her campaign is offering to those who donate.
But nothing is more likely to bring women her way than attacks from a brute, and Clinton made no effort to disguise her eagerness to join the brawl Trump started. During the 2008 campaign, Hillary used this to her advantage and defeated Barack Obama in the primary there.
What’s particularly disturbing is that Clinton herself is making the case for her candidacy based on being a woman, and she doesn’t get called on it. “The only thing she’s got going is the women’s card”. Trump’s supporters praise his bluntness, but celebrating his outspokenness does little to mask his frequent racist and misogynistic comments. As Business Insider’s Max Tani noted, Clinton’s wins Tuesday night in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania put her closer than ever to the nomination and could mark a turning point in the Democratic race.
“Women don’t like her”, Trump said of Clinton, apparently not aware of the fact that in all but three states since the beginning of the presidential campaign season, Clinton has won the majority of the women’s vote. That state votes June 7. About 4 in 10 Connecticut Republicans said they would not vote for Cruz in November if he is the party nominee, while about a fourth said they would not support Trump if he wins the nomination and a Kasich nominee drew the same response.
Among Democrats, Clinton beats Bernie Sanders 49% to 43%.
Sanders added, “Now our job is not just to revitalize the Democratic Party-not only to open the doors to young people and working people-our jobs is to revitalize American democracy”.
Trump has won with women voters over his competitors in the Republican field but when it comes to the national electorate he doesn’t fare as well, according to polls.
On the stump, Sanders said Wednesday that he is in it to win the nomination.
“This is a way to give Congress and the Republican Party the middle finger”, Labrador, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said of voting for Trump.
Hillary Clinton’s negatives are high, as well, but not as high as Trump’s.
Advertisement
You may disagree. You may say that he’d already lost women’s votes when he said that Fox News host Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her wherever” when she asked him questions he didn’t like during a debate.
