In Kamala Harris’ ad, a woman marks her ballot for the Democratic candidate while her husband thinks he will vote for Republican Donald Trump. A narration says, “What happens inside the booth remains inside the booth.”
The 30-second video, narrated by actor Julia Roberts, shows a couple arriving at a polling place wearing baseball caps emblazoned with the American flag, often worn by Trump supporters.
The ad, which was funded by a religious nonprofit, sparked outrage from the Trump campaign, with the former president calling it “stupid” and asking, “Can you imagine a wife not telling her husband where to vote?” asked.
In the ad, the wife exchanges a knowing look with another female voter before filling out her choice for Harris.
Before the husband asks, “Did you make the right choice?” the voiceover says, “You can vote however you like. No one will know.”
“That’s true, honey,” the woman replied.
unprecedented gender disparity
On conservative Fox News, a host recently said that if his wife secretly voted for Harris, it would be “the same as having an affair,” and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said: , said Harris’ election was an example of the “depth of corruption” within her campaign. ”
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political group, aired a similar ad showing two upper-middle-class men insisting to each other that their wives were voting for Trump. The women, along with other women at the polling place, then fill out their ballots for Harris.
These videos and the outraged reactions of Trump supporters illustrate two important aspects of the US presidential election campaign.
One is that Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris are in a serious battle for the last vote in what is perhaps the toughest presidential election in modern American history.
Another is that Ms. Harris has high hopes for mobilizing women in an extremely close election race in which the gender vote gap is at an all-time high.
According to the latest poll by NBC, there is a 34 percentage point difference between men and women as voters.
Among women, Harris leads by 16 points, while among men, Trump leads by 18 points.
The unprecedented gap comes as Harris’ campaign leans heavily toward reproductive and abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court struck them down in 2022.
clooney surprise
More broadly, Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said the election is about a “traditional, kind of patriarchal masculinity” that President Trump espouses, and “a lack of rigid gender roles and “It’s a conflict with Harris’ policies,” he said.
Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who stumbled with Harris, is openly betting on a “secret” vote for Democrats.
“Frankly, there will be a lot of men and women who will go to the polls and vote their conscience and vote for Vice President Harris,” said Cheney, the daughter of a former vice president. Dick Cheney.
“They may never say anything publicly, but the results will speak for themselves,” she says.
Former first lady Michelle Obama recently drove home this point, reminding women voters: ”
The Harris campaign’s “secret” hunt for voters isn’t just limited to women. Vote Common Good, the organization that funded the Julia Roberts-narrated ad, recently released a second spot. This time we feature two male voters who voted for Julia Roberts without telling their Trump-supporting friends.
The ad is narrated by another star, George Clooney.
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