Primary voting is underway in New Hampshire. Recent polling shows Bernie Sanders is the likely winner on the Democratic side.
According to a Marist College poll of Democratic voters in New Hampshire last week, Sanders had a 29 point lead over Hillary Clinton among female voters under 45 years old.
There’s little doubt that these numbers are deeply troubling to the Clinton campaign — a campaign which has landed itself in some hot water lately, thanks to comments made by women to women about women.
One remark came from former secretary of state Madeline Albright over the weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRimyfmz0MA
TEXT: “We can tell our story of how we climbed the ladder and a lot of you younger women think it’s done. It’s not done. There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other!”
That comment came on the heels of another statement made by iconic feminist Gloria Steinem, who appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNF0y1hhjzY
TEXT: “When you’re young, you’re thinking: ‘Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.’ ”
The comments have not gone over well with many women.
What do they reveal about the evolving nature of the feminist movement, and how might all this shape the election?
Take Two assembled a multigenerational panel of Democratic female voters to talk about it. Here are some of the highlights:
Anna Skye Harnsberger, biology major at Occidental College and Bernie Sanders supporter
Anna, how did it feel to you? What did you make of all of that?
“I felt [very indignant] about that remark. I think it’s completely ridiculous that those older feminists were telling younger women that they were making their decision based on anything other than their morals, and that’s what I’m making my decision on … If you hear someone like Hillary support those statements, and you also agree that there’s no hope in those kinds of statements, then how can you support Hillary herself?”
Karolina Jaremkiewicz, UCLA student and member of Bruins for Bernie
Is there ever a moment for you as a woman where you feel like, ‘I feel like my politics are more in line with Bernie Sanders, but yeah, I’m overlooking the possibility of the first female president.’ [Do] you feel mixed at all about that?
“Bernie has been a feminist always, and he always will be. He’s been fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality for decades now. Although I would like a woman president to shatter this glass ceiling, I would also like [her to shatter] the policies that have resulted in the greatest income inequality in decades.”
Vivian Rothstein, writer and founder of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union, one of the first feminist organizations of the 1970's
You were a very key and active and key player in the women’s movement several decades ago. When you have the opportunity — which you do now — to talk to younger women, is there anything that you wish that they understood more about what had happened in the past?
“I recall my own support for the McGovern campaign when I was desperate — [with] many other people in my generation — to end the war in Vietnam. And we pushed. We were active. We gave all of our energy to McGovern’s victory, and he carried only one state, and we got a Nixon presidency, and thousands of Vietnamese died as a result. I mean, it was a disaster. So, as you get older, you look back on those mistakes and those defeats, and maybe you get just a little bit more tempered and conservative in your view of who should be in the presidency. I would love it if Sanders could win — I feel like Hillary has much more of a chance, given our political landscape at this point.”