The day after President Trump’s inauguration in January, millions of women participated in protest marches around the country with the stated goal of sending a “bold message” to the new administration that “women’s rights are human rights.”
The success of the marches left the impression that a new feminist uprising was brewing, generating a massive network of women inspired to use their votes to push back against perceived misogyny.
An op-ed published in the New York Times after the marches warned Republicans to address the issues raised by the protests lest they face “backlash manifesting itself in future election losses.”
Yet, more than a month later, a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday found that only 7 percent of all registered voters say women’s issues are their foremost concerns when casting ballots in federal elections.
When asked “Thinking about your vote, what would you say is the top set of issues on your mind when you cast your vote for federal offices such as U.S. Senate or Congress?” just 7 percent of respondents selected “women’s issues” as their answer. A full 30 percent said economic issues, more than 20 percent said security issues, 16 percent said healthcare issues, and 15 percent said senior’s issues.
What’s more, even among women, only 11 percent said women’s issues are at the forefront of their mind when voting for federal office. Only 12 percent of self-identified Hillary Clinton voters and 18 percent of Democratic women followed suit.
The survey, conducted from Feb. 24-26, polled 2,000 registered voters with a 2 percent margin of error.
The marches organized in January were impressive and important. They should be interpreted as an indication that progressives will have a renewed ability to organize and mobilize in the Trump era. But the threat of millions of newly-impassioned feminists turning up at the polls to oust “anti-women” Republicans in 2018 is not real.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
