Are male voters reluctant to vote for a woman? Harris' backers are confronting the question head on
The concern has been there all along, but now it's being talked about openly: Are some men reluctant to vote for Kamala Harris because she’s a woman
WASHINGTON (AP) — The concern has been there all along, but now it's being talked about openly: Are some men reluctant to vote for Democrat Kamala Harris because she’s a woman?
The vice president rarely references her gender on the campaign trail, but her key supporters are starting to make more direct appeals to male voters, hoping to overcome ingrained sexism — or just plain apathy — as Election Day looms.
Former President Barack Obama said he was speaking to Black men in particular when he suggested some “aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.” Actor Ed O'Neill implores in a new ad, “Be a man: Vote for a woman.” And Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is helping lead “ Hombres con Harris ” — “Men with Harris” — to help energize Hispanic male voters.
“I think, in many ways, it's other people who need to be the messenger,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University. She added of appeals to men by the vice president, “I don't think she can get up and say, ”Shame on you."'
