If it’s the boy voters vs. the girls on the presidential playground, the boys pick Donald Trump by a seven point margin which is a solid win for the former prez.
For girls, they go for Kamala Harris but by a smaller/squeaker margin of five points.
Can you say gender gap? Both genders are probably saying about the other, thank goodness they are not the only ones voting.
This country over the years has grappled with the age-old generation gap between the young folks at home and the old folks in the home. The split was never more prevalent than during the Vietnam War as young men burned their draft cards, and those who fought in the Big War thought the defiant act was un-American.
As a society we’ve become more comfortable dealing with generational differences. But in recent years on the political front, this gender gap has captured the interest of those running for office, those helping those who run for office and those covering those who are doing both.
The new Trump vs. Harris face-off has produced polling results, in this case from Emerson College and the Nexstar TV company, that warrants a closer look as to what this gap means for the final outcome in November.
Let’s state the obvious. As a voting block not all men and women are a monolith; there is plenty of diversity within both ranks. That said....
Item one: Independent males break 41% for Mr. Trump and 38% against. For independent women it is a seven-point advantage to Ms. Harris.
Item two: The level of education is very pronounced as college trained men are tied at 45% for him and 45% for her. And here’s where Ms. Harris enjoys a hefty bump: 37% college women are for Mr. Trump but 52% favor her.
Item three: Based on the age of the voter there is a generation gap as younger men (18 to 49) by a 55%-36% clip favor the former president but those over the age of 50 are no so enamored as it’s 45% for Mr. T and 48% for Ms. H.
Item four: younger women are supporting Ms. Harris seven points more than the 39% of females who back Mr. Trump and like their older males counterparts 46% of older women back the GOP candidate while 48% support the Democrat.
So if you are pawing over this data as a consultant to either candidate looking for weak links in your coalition. Her brain trust is not overjoyed with so many older women for Mr. Trump. The 37% college educated women defecting is not anything to gloat about and because seniors generally vote in large numbers than the younger citizens, you have to worry about not cutting a bigger piece out of the older voters as she enjoys only a three point advantage there.
The Trump camp must be smiling that he is tied with college males but frowning at her eight-point lead with college women who vote in larger numbers than men. In a close down to the wire finish, that could be the margin of victory.
One thing for sure, this gender gap is not going to go away as it’s been a dominate factor in a host of recent presidential races. The yet to be answered puzzler is which sex is more geeked to actually vote.
