‘Please like me,’ Trump begged. For many women, it’s way too late
Kate Rabinovitch doesn’t call herself an activist.
A few weeks ago, the 29-year-old real estate agent wrote personalized messages to voters in her home state of Ohio on behalf of Joseph R. Biden Jr. She texts with undecided friends during the debates, arguing for the Democratic nominee. And she is helping to organize voter drives in her suburban Cleveland neighborhood.
But a political activist? No way.
“It’s just not something that I ever would have described myself as, if you talked to me a year ago,” said Ms. Rabinovitch. “I’m just a mom with the feels, like hard feels.”
Four years ago, Ms. Rabinovitch agonized over which candidate to support. In the final minutes of voting, she walked into the booth still uncertain. She left having cast her ballot for Donald J. Trump.
“I thought, ‘Oh, what’s the worst that could happen?’” she recalled recently. “I do feel guilty.”
For much of the country, polarized views about the president and his chaotic upending of American politics haven’t budged since 2016, when he squeezed out a narrow Electoral College victory while losing the popular vote. Yet, there is a demographic group that has changed its mind: white women in the suburbs.
In 2016, the suburbs powered Mr. Trump’s victory, with exit polls showing that he won those areas by four points. Now, polling in swing states shows the president losing those voters by historic margins, fueled by a record-breaking gender gap. Mr. Biden leads by 23 points among suburban women in battleground states, according to recent polling by The New York Times and Siena College. Among men, the race is tied.
Mr. Trump’s suburban deficit has emerged as a significant problem for his re-election bid, one that’s left the president begging with women to come home. [Continue reading…]