The Iowa poll conducted by pollster Ann Seltzer, published in the Des Moines Register, is considered one of the best in the country. When it was released, it shocked everyone following the election closely. It found that Kamala Harris was leading Trump by 47%-44% in deep-red Iowa. That’s still within the margin of error. The decisive factor that led to Harris’s lead was the gender gap, especially among women over 65. That demographic, usually Republican, favored Harris by a 2-1 margin.

Carol Burris, a mother and grandmother, explained why Harris is favored by older women.

She writes:

The latest Iowa poll shows Harris’s incredible support among senior women (63% -Harris to 28% Trump.) Pundits are surprised. This 71-year-old is not. That is because women over 65 remember.

 

We remember the world that Trump and Vance represent.

 

·      We remember needing our husband’s consent to get a credit card.

·      We remember when single women were referred to as “old maids,” –we hear that again in the “cat lady” remarks.

·      We remember when the doors to a professional life were closed, and women who used childcare if they could find it were considered “bad mommies.”

·      We remember the era of coat-hanger abortions.

·      We remember when there was no IVF, and those who desperately wanted a child were disappointed.

·      We remember when single motherhood made women an outcast, and the child was called a “bastard.”

·      We remember the days of McCarthyism; we either lived them, or they were a recent, chilling memory.

·      We remember when the KKK marched with impunity.

·      We remember the tasteless sexist humor of Milton Berle and when Jackie Gleason regularly vowed to punch his wife Alice “to the moon.” And a nation laughed.

·      We remember the aggression and cruel repression of the Soviet Union in Europe, now returning in Vladimir Putin.

·      We remember when the Equal Rights Amendment was defeated.

We remember when gay women were called, Dykes and Butches and lived in fear of exposure.

·      And we remember an era when the common good was reflected in our religious values and “the least of these” were considered our brothers and sisters, not invaders and the eaters of pets.

 

We know the Donald Trumps of the world. We grew up with them. He belongs to our generation. We understand how they think.  We remember the days when we were “protected whether we liked it or not.” 

 

And we will not return.  We love ourselves, our daughters, and our granddaughters too much. The price of eggs will come down no matter who is elected. We are unwinding from COVID inflation like the rest of the world.  Listen to those who remember.