America Will Get a Female President Someday
Published in Luzerner Zeitung
(Switzerland) on 18 November 2024
by Laura Zimmermann (link to
original)
Given the state of the news in recent weeks, it might appear that world events are nearing a Huxleyan dystopia. This, however, is my last commentary of the year, and so it needs to spread hope.
Considering that more than 75 million American women and men have just chosen a convicted criminal as their president elect, this is no easy feat. The majority of white American women elected a man who raped his first wife and was convicted of a hush money payment to a porn star. Once again, they preferred him to a highly qualified woman. For me, at least, this is unfathomable.
The 930% increase in morning-after pill sales the day after the election shows, for example, how precarious the situation for American women might become. In most cases, the purchases were for multiple orders. Appointments for vasectomies also increased in the days that followed the election.
Schoolboys holler, “Your body, my choice,” at girls on the playground. Many Donald Trump supporters believe they can sleep with a woman without her verbal consent. The first “convicted felon” president in 234 years has chiefly mobilized and won over a large number of young men. Patriarchal power has been restored in the U.S., if it was ever broken at all.
Although Trump's reelection was regrettably expected, we are obviously dumbfounded as to how this could have happened again and with such clarity. Yet, Trump's election comes as no surprise. There are two reasons for this.
While denouncing his rival throughout the campaign, Trump consistently focused on the basic needs of the American middle and lower classes — gas prices, spending power and the issue of migration. The promise of simple solutions to complex questions, commingled with misogyny and an impressive hoax of lies, made Trump the 47th U.S. president. The deciding factor for Trump voters was their conviction that he would improve the economically precarious situation of the American people. He did make them that promise, after all.
The poor state of his Democratic rivals was, however, a factor that may have carried more weight than his hate-fueled campaign — not least that of incumbent President Joe Biden.
Kamala Harris actually did a very good job, considering her starting position. She had little time to plan an election campaign. Within a short period, she had to define her position and distance herself from Biden without discrediting the president too harshly. Maybe that's why her political stance remained vague. Perhaps, unlike Trump, she simply didn't want to lie. She did, however, lead an innovative online campaign and got all of Hollywood to rally around her in no time.
Of course, her failure was also due to a familiar Democratic problem: She was under the blanket suspicion of belonging to the intellectual political elite that carries little understanding of the problems faced by ordinary people. But first and foremost, she had insufficient time to win people over.
This cannot happen again in 2028, as each election precedes the next. At a cursory glance, it would seem logical for the Democrats to opt for another male candidate. A closer look reveals, however, that it would be much better to start garnering female candidates for 2028 right away. The Democrats must not only prove they can win the election again; they must demonstrate that they can win the election with a female candidate. With this in mind, I am confident that 2028 will be a historic election year. The U.S. may not quite be ready for its first female president, but that time will come.
Considering that more than 75 million American women and men have just chosen a convicted criminal as their president elect, this is no easy feat. The majority of white American women elected a man who raped his first wife and was convicted of a hush money payment to a porn star. Once again, they preferred him to a highly qualified woman. For me, at least, this is unfathomable.
The 930% increase in morning-after pill sales the day after the election shows, for example, how precarious the situation for American women might become. In most cases, the purchases were for multiple orders. Appointments for vasectomies also increased in the days that followed the election.
Schoolboys holler, “Your body, my choice,” at girls on the playground. Many Donald Trump supporters believe they can sleep with a woman without her verbal consent. The first “convicted felon” president in 234 years has chiefly mobilized and won over a large number of young men. Patriarchal power has been restored in the U.S., if it was ever broken at all.
Although Trump's reelection was regrettably expected, we are obviously dumbfounded as to how this could have happened again and with such clarity. Yet, Trump's election comes as no surprise. There are two reasons for this.
While denouncing his rival throughout the campaign, Trump consistently focused on the basic needs of the American middle and lower classes — gas prices, spending power and the issue of migration. The promise of simple solutions to complex questions, commingled with misogyny and an impressive hoax of lies, made Trump the 47th U.S. president. The deciding factor for Trump voters was their conviction that he would improve the economically precarious situation of the American people. He did make them that promise, after all.
The poor state of his Democratic rivals was, however, a factor that may have carried more weight than his hate-fueled campaign — not least that of incumbent President Joe Biden.
Kamala Harris actually did a very good job, considering her starting position. She had little time to plan an election campaign. Within a short period, she had to define her position and distance herself from Biden without discrediting the president too harshly. Maybe that's why her political stance remained vague. Perhaps, unlike Trump, she simply didn't want to lie. She did, however, lead an innovative online campaign and got all of Hollywood to rally around her in no time.
Of course, her failure was also due to a familiar Democratic problem: She was under the blanket suspicion of belonging to the intellectual political elite that carries little understanding of the problems faced by ordinary people. But first and foremost, she had insufficient time to win people over.
This cannot happen again in 2028, as each election precedes the next. At a cursory glance, it would seem logical for the Democrats to opt for another male candidate. A closer look reveals, however, that it would be much better to start garnering female candidates for 2028 right away. The Democrats must not only prove they can win the election again; they must demonstrate that they can win the election with a female candidate. With this in mind, I am confident that 2028 will be a historic election year. The U.S. may not quite be ready for its first female president, but that time will come.
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