For most of Amandia Craig’s adult life, there has been a black president.
The 29-year-old mother of two and owner of her own beauty salon in Tampa, Florida says she feels she’s at a place in her life where she can appreciate the historic moment that could happen this November if Hillary Clinton is elected the first female president.
“We rule the world anyway – why not? I don’t know why this is the first time it had to happen,” Craig says at the Clinton campaign field office in Tampa where she volunteers at a phone bank.
Craig is part of a diverse mix of voters in central Florida, a demographic that mirrors the nation and has the power to swing the vote to either the Democrats or the Republicans in this key battleground state.
Early voting numbers out of Florida show women are turning out to vote in higher numbers than in the past. In an election season often dominated by a discussion of women’s roles in politics and American society, and with more than half of the state’s electorate composed of female voters, women here will have a powerful say in electing the next president.
A recent study by Nate Silver of the statistical analysis website 538 found that if only men were allowed to vote, Donald Trump would easily win the White House, but if the electorate was solely composed of women, Hillary Clinton would be nominated in a landslide.
Issues vs. allegations
Campaign ads aimed at female voters this election season have had to balance an emphasis on policy issues with the acknowledgement this has been a unique election season, giving women the choice between the first female presidential nominee and a candidate who has sparked a lively national debate about women’s issues with his controversial comments.
Hillary Clinton used some of Trump’s own words against him in a campaign ad asking Americans what kind of president they want for their daughters. The ad stood out to sixth-generation Florida voter Liz Johnson, who took her five-year-old daughter into the voting booth during the primary elections so she could begin to learn about the democratic process firsthand.
Johnson – a former Bernie Sanders supporter who will support Clinton in the general election – says, “It’s unfortunate the race is pitted as the female against the assaulter. It takes away from the actual issues. I’m disappointed in both candidates not being more on point on their platforms because it’s easy to go down the accusatory path and say ‘Vote for me, because you don’t want him.”
The concerns about a lack of substance are shared by female Trump supporters who argue the allegations against the Republican nominee are meant as a distraction to derail his candidacy.
“I’m not voting for a new Sunday school teacher. I’m not voting for a new preacher in my church. I’m not voting for a new life coach,” says 49-year old Trump supporter Elle, who asked that her last name not be used. “I’m voting for someone that I believe will be able to lead the country back to where we’re supposed to be.”
Dana Gordon has found herself more involved in politics this election season because of Trump and has taken to defending the candidate on social media under the popular hashtag WomenWhoSupportTrump.
“This election is much more passionate because the two candidates couldn’t be more different,” Gordon says. “It’s natural that women care about their country, too, and we’re smart,” she says, listing all of the issues that take precedence for her over the leaked Access Hollywood tape recording in which Donald Trump boasts about groping women. “We can overlook a mistake that someone did eleven years ago and look at the bigger picture.”
The senior vote
But concerns about Trump’s character have been too much for life-long Republican Linda Fogg, who created the group Republicans for Hillary at The Villages, the nation’s largest retirement community for people over the age of 55. With over 110,000 people, The Villages is America’s fastest growing city and a reminder of the power of Florida’s senior citizen voting bloc.
Republicans for Hillary is a primarily female group of about 20 people.
A “huge, huge leap,” Fogg calls it. “If you had told me a year ago that I’d be in a position where I’d be voting for Hillary Clinton, I would have thought that’s crazy.” She says the club was formed primarily to make sure all-important Florida votes would count toward opposing Donald Trump. Electing the first female president is “a nice freebie,” Fogg says, but her vote for Clinton is ultimately about putting the most responsible person in the White House.
Here in The Villages, Trump has very visible support, including regular rallies featuring golf carts decked out in signs for the Republican nominee. On a Thursday morning only a few weeks before Election Day, the Sumter County Republican Headquarters that serves The Villages is packed with female volunteers handing out Trump yard signs and wearing colorful American-flag themed apparel as they phone-bank. Marina Woolcock, the president of the Federated Republican Women’s Club for The Villages holds a planning meeting. The group has already put together “Benghazi Matters” bumper stickers and a pamphlet outlining four reasons not to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Asked about Trump’s controversial comments about women and the sexual assault allegations, Woolcock turns the discussion back to election season issues, listing security and openings on the Supreme Court as some of the key matters for the women in her group.
“We’re supporting Donald Trump because he is speaking to the agenda of the Republican Party,” she says, “We don’t vote for women just because they’re women. We’re voting for the person we think can lead the country at one of the most critical times we could be facing.”
These older women see this complicated and often exhausting election season with a longer-term perspective. They remember past female candidates like Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin, but they are voting forward.
“We’re not voting for us, our history is behind us,” Woolcock says. “We’re voting for the children and the grandchildren.”
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