Elise Amendola/AP Photo
Joe Biden at a New Hampshire campaign event last November
When the members of Women for Biden gathered for a Tuesday night DNC virtual watch party, it didn’t take long for the discussion to move to the question of how to restore national unity. And whenever leadership is the topic during the presidential election season, Democrats are quick to express their appreciation for Joe Biden and their disdain for Donald Trump.
New Mexico governor and Biden Cabinet hopeful Michelle Lujan Grisham led the dialogue, along with actor Jamie Lee Curtis. Lujan Grisham stressed the importance of combating discrimination and prejudice through education reform; lamented the nation’s gender and racial pay disparities; and called for electing more women to public office. The two women ultimately agreed on Trump’s inability to solve any of these issues, but largely ignored Biden’s track record and platform.
Nearly 60 percent of women support Biden, while roughly 40 percent support Trump, according to an August 12 CBS poll. Support for Biden is growing despite an allegation of sexual assault that almost derailed his campaign five months ago. He also faced intense criticism over instances of violating the personal space of several women. His Senate track record includes his poor performance during the 1991 Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas sexual harassment hearing when, as Judiciary Committee chairman, he allowed Republican committee members to disparage Hill’s character. He also supported the Hyde Amendment, which bans Medicaid funding of abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the woman’s life. Nonetheless, despite these failings and lack of a Bernie Sanders–level passion for policy, Biden remains a favorite for women voters for two reasons—his empathy and willingness to change.
“Since the Clarence Thomas hearing he has grown, and he has improved,” said Margaret Susan Thompson, a professor of history and political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Thompson, who has taught a number of courses on women’s history, sees Biden’s willingness to acknowledge mistakes and listen to the advice of his contemporaries as promising signs of his potential to prioritize women’s issues. Biden has apologized to Hill and explained the evolution of his position on the Hyde Amendment. Thompson notes that Trump lacks this willingness to engage in self-criticism.
After President Trump apologized for his “grab them by the p****” remarks, he soon went back to calling women “dogs,” “bimbos,” and “horsefaced.” Biden does not use this kind of dehumanizing language and is now cautious about public displays of unwanted affection. Biden’s past displays of “casual sexism,” according to Thompson, reflect the views of sectors of American society where men hold positions of power and women are viewed as subordinates or sex objects.
However, as women across America continue to rise and obtain positions of power, these new trajectories give them the opportunity to identify, influence, and cultivate open-minded male leaders. Lujan Grisham sees voting for Biden as the only option for forward-looking women.
“When women decide it’s time to shift where we’re headed as a country, we deliver,” Lujan Grisham said. Women are roughly 51 percent of the population; they continue to vote at higher rates than men; and they now make up a majority of the U.S. workforce, while also constituting the vast majority of family caregivers.
In November, Lujan Grisham urged women voters to empower themselves by voting in Biden, a man they can influence, and voting out Trump and his allies who threaten their families as well as their own well-being. “When you have a woman who perceives a threat to her family, there is nothing that will stop her from turning that around,” she said. “Take this election as an opportunity to stop those threats and move them out of the White House.”
