Democratic Primaries

For all the talk about Sen. Bernie Sanders’s diverse coalition and progressive outlook (and all the questions about the “likability” of female candidates), it should not escape notice that the biggest group of Democratic voters — women — overwhelmingly rejected the Vermont independent.

In Michigan, women made up 54 percent of the electorate; former vice president Joe Biden won 58 percent among these voters, compared to 35 percent for Sanders. In Missouri, women also accounted for 54 percent of the electorate; they chose Biden 64 to 32 percent. In Mississippi, 58 percent of the electorate was female; women chose Biden 83 to 12 percent.

Go back to Super Tuesday. Biden’s median support among women was 12 points higher than Sanders’s (37 to 25 percent) but only four points higher among men. In all Super Tuesday state exit polls, women made up more than 50 percent of the electorate — reaching roughly 60 percent in some cases (e.g. 58 percent in Minnesota, 61 percent in Alabama, 59 percent in Maine). That reflects the huge gender gap between the two parties that has only widened during the Trump era.....

Women’s aversion to Sanders may also be a rejection of the Bernie Bros phenomenon — the obnoxious harassment and even threats directed at women (including journalists and union leaders, as was the case in Nevada). Plenty of women did not think it was the least bit improbable that Sanders told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) he did not think a woman could win. The only other candidate whose campaign ethos is so infused with testosterone is Trump.

The degree to which Sanders has turned off women is a fundamental problem for the left, which contrary to its self-conception is largely white and male. It is hard to present oneself as the vanguard of a diverse party when your coalition on race and gender (but not age) looks like a Republican coalition. Moreover, it is impossible to win as a Democrat without the support and enthusiasm of women.