As anyone who has ever gone on a date has learned, relationships are tricky. One minute, things are going great – you’ve made the right impression over coffee, you’ve shared a nice laugh on a casual walk, you’ve enjoyed a relaxing evening watching mixed martial arts. Then boom. She/he tells you it’s been fun, but you’re not quite the desired “type,” and it’s back to swiping on your cellphone. And the more convinced you are that things are shaping up nicely, the more disorienting this experience can be.
I imagine this is a little how Donald Trump feels these days, vis-à-vis, women in general.
For years before he became president, he clearly fancied himself quite a catch. Not just in a “I’m a billionaire, would you like to see my gold arch supports?” way, but in a real, attractive, charming, sophisticated “What woman could ever resist me?” way. Listen to his old interviews. Google some old photos. There is no doubt, this is a man who believes he has an excellent rapport with women.
But if the polls are any indicator, this relationship is decidedly one-sided. He thinks they love him. They’re not so into it. With the midterm elections now upon us, 62 percent of likely female voters say they’ll lean Democratic in the voting booth, while only 35 percent say they’ll tilt Republican according to our latest CNN/SSRS poll. That’s not so much a gender gap, as a canyon. Trump is not on the ballot, true, but this is a vote on him anyway. Midterms have always been referendums on how much a president is liked or disliked, and with Trump’s polarizing ways, this one will be even more so.
Why? Oh, who knows? Perhaps it’s the disparaging comments he has flung around like confetti at a stag party, perhaps it’s the lawsuits, perhaps it is his tendency toward deceit and the politics of division, or perhaps it’s the generalized misogyny that can haunt some men. But whatever the reason, again women voters in overwhelming numbers, do not like him. And that soured relationship, more than anything else, could make the vote go against Team Trump.
