The Women’s Vote: Bernie Sanders’ New Problem

Bernie Sanders Women's vote BeLatina
Photo Credit Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders visits El Paso for a rally on Saturday, February 22, at the Abraham Chávez Theatre in El Paso, Texas.

Elizabeth Warren’s sad goodbye left the country with a bad taste in its mouth.

Not only did one of the best qualified women in the race for the Democratic nomination have to withdraw because of the Democratic National Committee’s retrograde decision to once again support two white men, but it seems that the vote and voice of minority communities continues to be overlooked.

Last Sunday, even Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the finalists in the race, admitted that sexism is an obstacle for women in politics.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” Sanders was asked if he thinks “sexism and other forms of bigotry remain hurdles for candidates appealing for not just the general electorate but for the Democratic votes.”

“The short answer is yes, I do,” Sanders replied. “I think women have obstacles placed in front of them that men do not have.”

After just weeks after the controversy between his alleged comments to Warren about the eligibility of a woman came to light, the Vermont senator had more to add:

“On the other hand, we have made progress in the last 40, 50 years in terms of the number of women who are now in Congress. You can remember it wasn’t so many years ago few decades ago that Barbara Mikulski of Maryland was the only woman in the United States Senate, and we have made some progress,” he said. “But the day has got to come sooner than later that women can see themselves equally represented in Congress half or more members of Congress, president of the United States, leaders of companies all over this country.”

“We have got to get rid of all of the vestiges of sexism that exist in this country, which is still pretty rampant,” Sanders added.

The candidate’s comments, however, don’t come out of the blue.

As James Hohmann explained in his analysis for The Washington Post, Sanders now has his eye on securing the vote of the country’s female community, unveiling “reproductive health care and justice for all” last Saturday afternoon and attacking his only opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, for supporting the Hyde Amendment.

Looking ahead to the next round of primaries, where the votes of states like Michigan are up for grabs, “Women are the centerpiece of Sanders’ comeback strategy,” Hohmann said.

“Biden led him among women by 12 points on Super Tuesday, 37 percent to 25 percent, based on median support in available exit polling, with Warren (D-Mass.) pulling 15 percent and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg getting 13 percent,” he added. “Biden led Sanders among men by a narrower 4 points, 36 percent to 32 percent, with Warren in single digits.”

While Sanders has had strong approval among women since the beginning of Warren’s campaign by September 2019 The Economist announced that most women under 30 and between 30 and 44 years old supported the candidate the gap left by Warren among demographics such as college-educated female voters is key to the final stretch of his campaign.

Even worse: In polls compared to Donald Trump, the senator’s numbers are nowhere near enough.

According to the New York Times, figures from a recent Washington Post/ABC News Poll showed how Sanders “performed the worst with college-educated White women.”

In short, the Democratic establishment’s bid to rally its voting base around a candidate who does not represent the true heterogeneity of the country could, once again, cost them the White House.

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