In Might, when President Biden was operating for re-election, we performed a spotlight group with 12 girls from swing states who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 to evaluate how they had been feeling concerning the rematch. They had been enthusiastically pro-Trump and assured: Eleven of the 12 mentioned they thought he would win. On the similar time, half of them mentioned it was vital that America have a feminine president within the subsequent decade, and some praised Kamala Harris.
This month, with Ms. Harris now the Democratic nominee, we determined to ask our group from Might to reconvene and discuss what distinction, if any, having a lady on the high of the ticket made for them. 9 of our members had been recreation, and the dialog had some surprises: For instance, whereas the group was nonetheless principally pro-Trump, they had been now roughly break up on whether or not he would win.
The ladies who preferred Mr. Trump mentioned they trusted him extra on the financial system and inflation and had been skeptical that prices would go down underneath Ms. Harris as a result of they blamed the Biden-Harris administration for the state of the financial system now. Apparently, 4 of the ladies trusted Ms. Harris extra on the problem of abortion, however a few them made clear they noticed abortion not as “a political concern or a voting concern,” as certainly one of them mentioned, however as a “social concern.”
A few of the girls had misgivings about Mr. Trump that had been extra acute than once we spoke in Might, noting his help for tax cuts for rich Individuals, his “horrible bedside method” and his tendency to say “dumb” issues. A number of of the ladies mentioned they had been additionally involved about political violence from his supporters.
In such a polarized election, we had been struck that one girl had switched from Mr. Trump to Ms. Harris and one other gave the impression to be leaning that approach. They preferred Ms. Harris’s confidence and enthusiasm, and so they wished to see the attitude and management {that a} girl would deliver to the presidency. A few of the pro-Trump girls additionally credited Ms. Harris with being vocal, empathetic and brave, although a number of had been fairly important of her as effectively, calling her “robotic,” “pretend” and “unqualified.” What was unequivocally clear, although, is that for these 9 girls, Ms. Harris had a combating probability towards Mr. Trump and had earned a measure of grudging respect — one thing they didn’t really feel concerning the Democrats in Might.
Eva 60, Nevada, Republican, Latina, pet sitter
Gaylin 31, Georgia, unbiased, white, stay-at-home mother
Glory 27, Georgia, Republican, Black, nanny
Krys 52, North Carolina, unbiased, white, caretaker
Melissa 43, Arizona, unbiased, Latina, H.R. specialist
Rina 69, Pennsylvania, Republican, white, semiretired
Teri 44, Wisconsin, unbiased, white, methods analyst
Traci 54, Michigan, unbiased, white, case analyst
Uche 25, Pennsylvania, unbiased, Black, nanny