As the primaries come to a close in the upcoming weeks and Senator Bernie Sanders takes a dramatic lead, many have been left wondering where the momentum behind Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Amy Klobuchar has gone. Even with Warren reviving her campaign in the Nevada Democratic debate with her attack on Michael Bloomberg, she is predicted to come nowhere near close to the nomination, with Klobuchar even farther behind. This makes no sense. At the start of the primaries, Warren’s base was almost as deep as Sanders’ was. Klobuchar was making significant gains after being told that it would never happen. So what happened?
Well, to start, the other candidates on stage did not help the situation. An alleged conversation between Sanders and Warren prior to the primary proves this point rather well. Allegedly, Sanders had told Warren that a “woman could not win the election,” which brought up the idea of sexism in this election. Whether or not Senator Sanders said this to Warren is irrelevant to the fact that many people do in fact believe that in the general election, a woman will not be able to defeat President Trump. In a recent poll, 70% of Democrats believed that a male would have a better chance of beating Trump in the general election. That’s a majority of Dems who have already lost hope in Warren and Klobuchar before half the country has even voted in the primaries. Imagine already losing half of your electorate before the primary vote due to electability concerns? That is what Senator Warren and Senator Klobuchar are up against.
Many argue that this outdated way of thinking has been proven false, with Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote in 2016, but in truth, it hasn’t been. Clinton as a candidate was unique with her decades of experience in both the executive branch and in the State Department. Her name recognition was off the charts and her endorsements ranged from her husband, former President Clinton, to former President Barack Obama. Both Warren and Klobuchar lack the endorsements and name recognition to match Clinton’s wide reach. This isn’t because they are less capable or unable to garner the endorsements but because of sheer timing and competition with four other candidates. Splitting the endorsements between six candidates takes power from the others and muddles the strength of the candidates, putting Warren and Klobuchar in a worse position than the male candidates.
With President Trump at the helm of his campaign strategy, he will push for a misogynistic agenda that will empower sexist citizens to vote in his favor in the coming months. No matter who receives the nomination this month, we have to remember that women like Warren and Klobuchar, along with earlier candidates such as Senator Kamala Harris and Representative Tulsi Gabbard, have worked hard to address the problem of female representation. It has become our responsibility to take this upon ourselves and follow in their footsteps in whatever career path we choose. Even if we do not have a female president in 2020, we, as women, should be proud nonetheless that we are coming ever so closer every four years.