Wednesday, Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of playing “the woman card,” saying that the Democratic front runner relied so much on her gender that she’d be at only 5% without it.
Thanking Donald for the idea, Hillary Clinton issued her own Official Hillary Clinton “woman cards” to supporters Thursday afternoon, encouraging her supporters to whip out their cards every time they’re accused of supporting Hillary Clinton for her gender alone:
She literally played the woman card.
And it could turn out to be a “trump card.” The incident itself, taken in context, barely registers in the annals of Trump’s negative history with women. But Trump played directly into Hillary Clinton’s hands — and her narrative that women have a much harder time gaining a foothold in politics, and have a natural, gender-based disadvantage. Trump could easily criticize Hillary Clinton on policy, but he chose to use sexist rhetoric instead, underscoring her contention.
The strange thing is, contrary to Trump’s assertion, while Hillary has used her gender as a primary qualification for the Presidency, the so-called “woman card” has hurt her more than helped her. Women are tiring of identity politics campaign rhetoric , and where she’s used it, Hillary’s “I am woman, hear me campaign” just doesn’t resonate, mostly because Millennial women feel Bernie Sanders represented “women’s issues” better (and because men are turned off by it). What she has, she’s gotten in spite of the woman card, not because of it.
Even generally speaking, the “woman card” isn’t particularly useful for much. Maybe, nowadays, it might provide you the proof you need to use the women’s restroom at Trump Tower or convince someone that you need help getting a pickle jar open, but otherwise, it tends to be a disadvantage. And for the Hillary Clinton Official Woman Card, you’ll have to wait six to eight weeks for delivery.
