Nicholas Liu
SALON
Fri, November 1, 2024
Woman looking at vote by mail ballot postcard Getty Images/AJ_Watt
An ad reminding women that they can vote differently from their partners — and aren't obliged to tell them about it — appears to be touching on a very real phenomenon. According to a YouGov poll, 1 in 8 women voted differently from their partners in an election without telling them.
That's about the same percentage as men who said they've done so. In 2016, when Donald Trump had not yet completed his takeover of the Republican Party, his "shy" supporters maintained that no one is obliged to share who they voted for.
In an election where women's rights and health have moved to center stage in wake of abortion bans and Trump's threats to "protect" women against their will, disagreements within opposite-sex relationships might be more common. Women have typically voted for the Democratic candidate at a higher rate than men, but polls have shown an even wider gender gap in this election cycle, with women backing Vice President Kamala Harris by as much as 12% over Trump.
That's a stark contrast to the 46% of men in the YouGov survey who believed that their partners would be voting for Trump, versus the 40% who said the same about Harris.
For many Trump supporters, the idea of Harris winning would be infuriating enough, but conservative TV figures and activists added another dimension to the rage in MAGA circles: a woman daring to challenge the primacy of a man, who is none the wiser. The woman with a hat and American flag in the offending pro-Harris ad, Charlie Kirk complained, “coming in with her sweet husband, who probably works his tail off to make sure that she can go and have a nice life and provides for the family, and she lies to him saying I’m going to vote for Trump, then she votes for Kamala Harris as her little secret in the voting booth.”
Fri, November 1, 2024
Woman looking at vote by mail ballot postcard Getty Images/AJ_Watt
An ad reminding women that they can vote differently from their partners — and aren't obliged to tell them about it — appears to be touching on a very real phenomenon. According to a YouGov poll, 1 in 8 women voted differently from their partners in an election without telling them.
That's about the same percentage as men who said they've done so. In 2016, when Donald Trump had not yet completed his takeover of the Republican Party, his "shy" supporters maintained that no one is obliged to share who they voted for.
In an election where women's rights and health have moved to center stage in wake of abortion bans and Trump's threats to "protect" women against their will, disagreements within opposite-sex relationships might be more common. Women have typically voted for the Democratic candidate at a higher rate than men, but polls have shown an even wider gender gap in this election cycle, with women backing Vice President Kamala Harris by as much as 12% over Trump.
That's a stark contrast to the 46% of men in the YouGov survey who believed that their partners would be voting for Trump, versus the 40% who said the same about Harris.
For many Trump supporters, the idea of Harris winning would be infuriating enough, but conservative TV figures and activists added another dimension to the rage in MAGA circles: a woman daring to challenge the primacy of a man, who is none the wiser. The woman with a hat and American flag in the offending pro-Harris ad, Charlie Kirk complained, “coming in with her sweet husband, who probably works his tail off to make sure that she can go and have a nice life and provides for the family, and she lies to him saying I’m going to vote for Trump, then she votes for Kamala Harris as her little secret in the voting booth.”
Julia Roberts ad sparks debate about gender gap, voting in marriages
Caroline Vakil
Fri, November 1, 2024
Julia Roberts ad sparks debate about gender gap, voting in marriages
A pro-Harris campaign ad encouraging women to break with their Trump-supporting partners at the ballot box is striking a nerve amid signs of a growing national gender gap in the high-stakes presidential race.
Vote Common Good, which encourages evangelical and Catholic voters to break from the GOP, aired an ad voiced by actress Julia Roberts reminding women “you can vote any way you want and no one will ever know” — prompting pushback from several prominent conservatives who criticized it for calling on wives to lie to their husbands.
Polls show a significant gap, with Vice President Harris winning over a large majority of female voters and former President Trump building up a huge advantage with male voters.
This difference would get attention in any presidential cycle, but it feels all the more important in the first presidential contest to take place since the fall of Roe v. Wade.
“It’s definitely significant and has the potential of being historic,” explained Jackie Payne, the founder and executive director of the nonpartisan, moderate women-focused group Galvanize Action.
“When I’m looking at the data, what I see is, if only men voted, Trump would win,” said Payne, adding that “women are making this a competitive election.”
In the 30-second ad featuring Roberts, a couple are at a polling place when a man prompts his female partner, presumably after voting, “your turn honey.”
The woman, wearing a hat with a bedazzled American flag on it, is seen walking to her voting booth where she weighs choosing between Harris and Trump.
She looks up at another woman voting in front of her and the two exchange a knowing glance, before marking her ballot for Harris.
In the background, Roberts invokes the issue of abortion rights in her voice-over. “In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote anyway you want, and no one will ever know.”
Toward the end of the ad, her husband asks if she “made the right choice,” to which she smiles and says “sure did, honey.”
Fox News host Jesse Watters mentioned his own spouse in discussing the ad, comparing a woman who doesn’t tell her husband who she is voting for to someone having an affair.
“If I found out Emma was going to the voting booth and pulling the lever for Harris, that’s the same thing as having an affair,” Watters said on air Wednesday in response to the ad.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk called it “gross” to suggest women would “undermine their husbands.”
The ad isn’t the only effort this cycle to remind voters that their ballots are private, or to suggest that women and men are casting different ballots this fall.
NBC News reported pro-Harris sticky notes have been found in women’s bathroom stalls and on the backs of tampon boxes. And women are taking to a TikTok trend in which Harris-Walz voters share that they’ll “cancel out” a pro-Trump husband or family member’s ballot.
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, who’s doing work for independent expenditure groups in the presidential election, suggested the Harris ad with Julia Roberts could be effective, even if it doesn’t completely capture the dynamic she’s found in some relationships when it comes to voting.
“When we’re trying to interview them or if you’re canvassing these married women, they’ll say, ‘Well, you should really be talking to my husband. He knows more about this, or he follows politics,’ or ‘I just get his opinion on politics,’” Lake explained.
“These women presume that he has greater expertise, and he presumes that he has greater expertise. And so the first part of moving these women is to say you have your own way of doing things. You have your own opinion,” she added.
Polling the extent to which couples may vote differently from each other is challenging to accurately measure given votes are privately cast and respondents may not always offer that information to pollsters.
Still, it raises questions over how men and women will cast their votes this cycle — and how big a split it could be.
The gender gap was at 11 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election, with 42 percent of women and 52 percent of men backing Trump, according to Edison Research compiled by the Center for American Woman and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.
In 2020, the gap was 12 points, with 57 percent of women and 45 percent of men backing President Biden.
In 2024, there are signs of a growing divide.
An October USA Today/Suffolk University national poll found women decidedly behind Harris, 53 percent to 36 percent. Men were behind Trump 53 percent to 36 percent. If similar splits show up on Nov. 5, it could make for a historic gender gap.
Payne of Galvanize Action explained that moderate white women were driving the gender gap. At the same time, Zachary Donnini, a data scientist at Decision Desk HQ, noted gaps were emerging among Black and Latino voters, too.
Polls have also suggested a deepening split among young voters in particular. Motivated by threats to reproductive rights and turned off by GOP rhetoric, young women are tending more liberal, experts said — while young men are pulled in by Trump’s messaging around masculinity.
Women, who have long outpaced men in voter turnout, are also dominating early voting, according to the latest data compiled by the University of Florida Election Lab, making up 54 percent of the 66 million early votes so far.
Only Election Day will reveal how many female voters are actually part of the hesitant demographic depicted in the Vote Common Good ad, said Martha McKenna, a Democratic strategist and veteran of EMILY’s List, a group aimed at getting abortion-rights female candidates elected to office.
But McKenna argued many moderate Republican and independent women are “feeling squeezed” this cycle. Even the Republican “outrage” at the new ad, she said, could make the case for the ad’s message.
“Republicans fell straight into the trap that the ad laid out for them,” McKenna said, pointing to the responses from right-wing talkers.
“They have so far overreacted to this discussion in the final days of the campaign that they’ve really exposed themselves … It is, like, embarrassing almost — how upset these guys were at the thought that the women in their lives would not vote the way that they wanted them to, for Trump.”
Still, there are nuances within measuring the gap between how women and men vote for the winning presidential candidate.
Kelly Dittmar, director of research and scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics, noted it’s possible there could be a record in the gender gap this presidential cycle while noting women have been more likely to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate since 1980.
“Anybody is going to be able to argue that women are the key to this election. But I think the more interesting story and the trends to watch are going to be, which women, how do they trend,” she explained. “What is the diversity among women voters?”
Kim Wyman, a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and the former Republican secretary of state in Washington, said the dynamics in the Vote Common Good ad aren’t limited to the gender divide.
“I really do believe that this election, based on what we saw in 2016 and what we saw in 2020, saying to people how you voted, and it doesn’t matter which side you say you voted, can get a very emotional response from friends and family and people you’ve known your whole life,” Wyman said. “And I think that for many Americans, they just kind of want to avoid it.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Julia Roberts Reminds Americans 'Our Children Are Watching' In Female-Led Voting Ad
Kelly Coffey-Behrens
Sat, November 2, 2024
Scroll back up to restore default view.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways
Julia Roberts has launched a new ad campaign, encouraging Americans to make their voices heard in support of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in the upcoming election.
Taking to Instagram, the "Pretty Woman" actress shared the female-led campaign video, emphasizing the importance of voting and the impact it has on future generations.
The video shared on Julia Roberts' Instagram page is filled with messages centered on equality and the preservation of fundamental rights, and urges viewers to “Vote for us, vote for her, vote for Kamala.”
Hilary Clinton, Betsy Ross, And More Are Featured In Julia Roberts' Campaign Video
MEGA
Featuring appearances from influential female figures, both historical and contemporary—including activist Betsy Ross, Hilary Clinton, and soccer star Megan Rapinoe—the ad campaign taps into a legacy of women’s leadership and advocacy, connecting past struggles with today’s battles for equality.
A recurring theme in the video is the protection of women’s rights, with particular emphasis on Roe v. Wade and issues of reproductive freedom. The ad reflects a call for action at a critical time, reminding viewers that the choices they make will shape the future, not just for themselves but for generations to come.
“Our children are watching,” Roberts wrote in the caption, a message from Liz Cheney's opening statement at Capitol Riot hearing in July 2021.
Julia Roberts Sends A Message To Every American Woman With New Ad Campaign
With a focus on unity and collective action, the campaign echoes Roberts’ own advocacy for civic engagement, highlighting the belief that voting is both a right and a powerful tool for change.
In addition to using historical photos and videos of prominent women, Roberts also used Laura Bell Bundy's song, "American Girl," which includes the lyrics:
"Why’s it so hard being an American girl
Why’s it so hard living in a first-problem world
When the American promise is the land of the free
But I’m waiting for the bill for the air that I breath
Why’s it so hard being an American girl."
In sharing this message, Roberts and her fellow advocates aim to remind Americans that their voices have the potential to drive progress and shape a future rooted in equality and justice.
Julia Roberts' Campaign Ad Tells Women They Can Vote Differently From Their Husbands
A recent campaign ad narrated by Roberts for the Harris-Walz ticket has sparked widespread debate after its release by the progressive evangelical group "Vote Common Good" on Monday, October 28.
"In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know," Roberts said in the ad, which features two women casting their votes for Vice President Harris and Minnesota Governor Walz.
When they rejoin their husbands, one husband asks his wife, “Did you make the right choice?” to which she responds confidently, “Sure did, honey.”
Julia Roberts Faces Backlash For Recent Campaign
MEGA
Intended to empower women voters with the message that they can vote independently of their husbands, the ad has instead faced backlash, with many critics calling it out-of-touch and patronizing.
"Julia Roberts does the voice-over for this execrable political ad," Boyce College Professor Denny Burk posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "The gist of it is this: Since men like your husband have taken away your right to choose abortion, you can stick it to them by exercising your right to choose Harris-Walz."
Author and columnist Caryn Sullivan said, "Don't be that woman."
Social Media Slams Julia Roberts For 'Encouraging' Women To 'Lie' To Their Husbands
MEGA
The backlash didn't stop there...
"This ad featuring actress Julia Roberts encourages women to defy or lie to their husbands because the end (abortion) justifies the means," Sullivan added. "A fitting way to end a campaign marked by dishonesty and false claims of unity.
"Women aren't stupid. This is absurdly condescending," one X user said.
Griffin Eckstein
Sat, November 2, 2024
Donald Trump Emily Elconin/Getty Images
Donald Trump is not happy about a ad urging wives of Trump-supporting spouses to vote for Kamala Harris in secret.
The former president complained about the ad from Vote Common Good during a call to Fox News on Saturday morning. Trump expressed skepticism that women would have to hide their political beliefs from their husbands.
“The wives and husbands, I don’t think that’s the way they deal,” Trump said. “I mean, can you imagine a wife not telling a husband who she's voting for? Did you ever hear anything like that? Even if you had a horrible — if you had a bad relationship, you're gonna tell your husband.”
twitter.com/atrupar/status/1852729589119758737
The candidate added that he’s “disappointed in Julia Roberts" for her role in the ad. In a voiceover, the actress reminded women that they “can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know.”
“She’s gonna look back on it and she’s gonna cringe,” Trump said. “It doesn’t really say much about her relationship, I’m sure she has a great relationship.”
A recent YouGov poll suggested 1 in 8 women voted differently than their partners without telling them, but that hasn't stopped MAGA men from stewing over the idea. Fox anchor Jesse Watters inadvertently proved the ad's point on air, saying that his wife backing a different candidate would be “the same thing as having an affair.”
The former president’s rebuke of the ad’s message comes days after he promised to protect women “whether the women like it or not.”
Donald Trump Slams Julia Roberts for Narrating Ad Urging Wives to Vote for Kamala Harris: ‘She’s Going to Look Back at That and She’s Going to Cringe’
J. Kim Murphy and Michaela Zee
Sat, November 2, 2024
Donald Trump criticized Julia Roberts on “Fox & Friends” Saturday for narrating a Harris-Walz campaign ad that reminds women that their vote is their choice, regardless of how their husbands or anyone else may be voting.
“I’m so disappointed at Julia Roberts. She’s going to look back on that and she’s going to cringe. ‘Did I really say that?’” Trump said while calling into the show. “It doesn’t say much for her relationship, but I’m sure she has a great relationship. The wives and the husbands, I don’t think that’s the way they deal. Can you imagine a wife not telling a husband who she’s voting for? Did you ever hear anything like that? Even if you had a horrible — if you had a bad relationship, you’re going to tell your husband. It’s a ridiculous thing. So stupid.”
The Roberts-narrated ad was created by the progressive evangelical group Vote Common Good. In the video, one woman is seen voting for Harris in the booth, even though her husband appears to be leaning towards Trump.
“In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want and no one will ever know,” Roberts says, nodding to how reproductive rights are in jeopardy if Trump is reelected president.
The woman in the ad who votes for Harris is seen leaving the voting booth and meeting her husband, who asks: “Did you make the right choice?” The wife answers, “Sure did, honey,” and then shares a glance with her female friend that makes it clear voting for Harris is their secret in the voting booth and their husbands will never know.
“Remember,” Roberts adds as the narrator, “what happens in the booth, stays in the booth.”
Donald Trump Is “So Disappointed” In Julia Roberts For Narrating Kamala Harris Ad
Glenn Garner
Sat, November 2, 2024
With three days until the presidential election, Donald Trump is taking aim at Julia Roberts over her support of Kamala Harris.
On Saturday, the former president called into Fox & Friends, where he criticized the Oscar winner for narrating a recent Vote Common Good ad in support of his opponent, encouraging women to vote for Harris regardless of their husbands’ opinions.
“I’m so disappointed at Julia Roberts,” said Trump in his appearance. “She’s going to look back on that and she’s going to cringe. ‘Did I really say that?’ It doesn’t say much for her relationship, but I’m sure she has a great relationship.”
Trump continued, “But the wives and the husbands, I don’t think that’s the way they deal. Can you imagine a wife not telling a husband who she’s voting for? Did you ever hear anything like that? Even if you have a horrible — if you had a bad relationship, you’re going to tell your husband. It’s a ridiculous ad. So stupid. She’s gonna look back someday, she’s gonna say, ‘Did I really make that?'”
The ad features two women going into their voting booths as their husbands wait for them. They make eye contact as they fill in the bubble for Harris and running mate Tim Walz.
“Did you make the right choice?” one husband asks as his wife responds, “Sure did, honey.”
Roberts says in a voiceover, “In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know. Remember, what happens in the booth stays in the booth. Vote Harris/Walz.”
Trump’s response comes as Harris makes one final push for undecided voters, concluding her historic $370 million paid media campaign with ‘Brighter Future‘, an ad running across CBS and Fox during the 1pm ET slate of NFL games on Saturday.
Trump can’t believe a woman wouldn’t tell her husband who she’s voting for
Clarissa-Jan Lim
Updated Sat, November 2, 2024
Donald Trump Melania Trump fill out their ballots at a polling station on Nov. 8, 2016, in New York.
Donald Trump expressed incredulity that a woman would hide her choice at the ballot box from her husband, trashing an ad from a Democratic group reminding women that their votes are private.
The ad, released by Vote Common Good and narrated by actor Julia Roberts, shows a woman voting for Kamala Harris, the suggestion being that her vote does not align with her husband’s. “In the one place in America where women still have the right to choose, you can vote any way you want,” Roberts says in the video.
In a meandering call-in conversation with “Fox & Friends” on Saturday morning, Trump criticized both the ad and Roberts.
“I’m so disappointed in Julia Roberts — she’s gonna look back on that and she’s gonna cringe, like, ‘Did I really say that?’ It doesn’t say much about her relationship, but I’m sure she has a great relationship,” he said.
“But the wives and husbands, I don’t think that’s the way they deal. I mean, can you imagine a wife not telling her husband who she’s voting for? You ever hear anything like that?” Trump said. “Even if you have a horrible — if you had a bad relationship, you’re gonna tell your husband. It’s a ridiculous ad, it’s so stupid.”
Polls have shown a stark gender divide among voters, particularly young voters, in the presidential election: A majority of women support Harris over Trump, and Trump has been outperforming Harris among men. In trying to close the gap, Trump’s appeals to women have tended to veer into patronizing, vaguely threatening statements.
The Democratic ad, released this week, has also enraged right-wing influencers, as my colleague Ja’han Jones has pointed out. Some of them have suggested women shouldn’t have the right to vote at all if they vote differently from their husbands.
Trump’s dismay at the suggestion that a woman’s vote is entirely her own does recall at least one instance where he seemed concerned about how someone may vote.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Clarissa-Jan Lim
Updated Sat, November 2, 2024
Donald Trump Melania Trump fill out their ballots at a polling station on Nov. 8, 2016, in New York.
Donald Trump expressed incredulity that a woman would hide her choice at the ballot box from her husband, trashing an ad from a Democratic group reminding women that their votes are private.
The ad, released by Vote Common Good and narrated by actor Julia Roberts, shows a woman voting for Kamala Harris, the suggestion being that her vote does not align with her husband’s. “In the one place in America where women still have the right to choose, you can vote any way you want,” Roberts says in the video.
In a meandering call-in conversation with “Fox & Friends” on Saturday morning, Trump criticized both the ad and Roberts.
“I’m so disappointed in Julia Roberts — she’s gonna look back on that and she’s gonna cringe, like, ‘Did I really say that?’ It doesn’t say much about her relationship, but I’m sure she has a great relationship,” he said.
“But the wives and husbands, I don’t think that’s the way they deal. I mean, can you imagine a wife not telling her husband who she’s voting for? You ever hear anything like that?” Trump said. “Even if you have a horrible — if you had a bad relationship, you’re gonna tell your husband. It’s a ridiculous ad, it’s so stupid.”
Polls have shown a stark gender divide among voters, particularly young voters, in the presidential election: A majority of women support Harris over Trump, and Trump has been outperforming Harris among men. In trying to close the gap, Trump’s appeals to women have tended to veer into patronizing, vaguely threatening statements.
The Democratic ad, released this week, has also enraged right-wing influencers, as my colleague Ja’han Jones has pointed out. Some of them have suggested women shouldn’t have the right to vote at all if they vote differently from their husbands.
Trump’s dismay at the suggestion that a woman’s vote is entirely her own does recall at least one instance where he seemed concerned about how someone may vote.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
"That is sick!": Newt Gingrich loses it over ad informing women they can secretly vote for Harris
Nicholas Liu
Fri, November 1, 2024 at 9:56 AM MDT
Newt Gingrich Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is raging about an ad telling women they don't have to reveal to anyone, including their husbands, how they vote in the 2024 election.
“In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want,” actress Julia Roberts says as a woman casts a ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris. “And no one will ever know.”
Later, her husband asks her: “Did you make the right choice?”
“Sure did, honey,” the woman replies, before Roberts asks viewers to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket.
The ad, produced by the group Vote Common Good, has thrown conservatives into a frenzy. Gingrich joined the chorus in a Thursday interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, who complained about celebrities endorsing Harris en masse.
“These people are dishonest,” Gingrich responded. “And so, for them to tell people to lie is just one further example of the depth of their corruption. I mean, how do you run a country where you’re walking around saying, ‘Wives should lie to their husbands, husbands should lie to their wives’?”
Gingrich, who had an affair during his second marriage, then held Democrats responsible for America's moral degeneration. “I mean, what kind of a totally amoral, corrupt, sick system have the Democrats developed? If you think about it at that level, it is astonishing, the decay," he said, before claiming that the "decay" is why Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who reportedly maintained at least three romantic liaisons outside of his marriage with Cheryl Hines, left the Democratic Party and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
Long before the Roberts ad aired, Gingrich had been using extreme rhetoric to describe the supposed Democratic unraveling of American society. During the 1990 midterm elections, a group led by Gingrich issued pamphlets among Republicans encouraging them to label their opponents with words like "destroy," "collapse," "traitors," "decay" and "sick" as a key mechanism of persuasion. In his interview with Hannity, Gingrich pulled out "sick" three times in less than 10 seconds.
“Instead of having a dignity and patriotism and a sense of morality, these are really sick people,” Gingrich continued. “And the more you watch them, to say, ‘Oh, why don’t you lie to your husband?’ as a publicly advocated ad? That is sick! And I think we ought to have the courage to say this is a sick, dishonest party.”
.jpg)
