Keller @ Large: Casual Sexism Won't Help Trump
BOSTON (CBS) - With all due respect to Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, the Donald Trump – Hillary Clinton general election battle has already begun.
From the looks of it, they won't be bothering with gloves. And here's a news bulletin for you: the first-ever presidential race including a female major-party nominee is going to be in large part a referendum on gender politics.
That has been assured by the emergence of Trump, who doesn't hesitate to denigrate women with tacky, sexist insults, including Clinton.
"The only card she has is a woman's card," he said on Tuesday night. "She's got nothing else going on… if Hillary Clinton were a man, i don't think she'd get 5 percent of the vote."
Quite a comment to make about a former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State, the same resume as Presidents James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. But there's no question Clinton's gender is a significant part of her appeal, to older women at least.
Exit polls show she has struggled to gain traction among younger female voters in her contest with Bernie Sanders. And while Clinton clearly hopes to benefit from the historic nature of her candidacy, she doesn't persistently tout her gender as the reason to vote for her.
Trump has high negative ratings among women, which he must lower to have a chance in November. Casual sexism like this latest remark about Clinton isn't going to help him do it.
