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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhite women didn’t just fail Wendy Davis — they failed the rest of Texas, too
I went to the Texas Tribune first for a dissection of the election results, and one piece of information struck me as particularly wrong. The Tribune cited CNN exit polls to illustrate the landslide, saying Abbott beat Davis by lopsided margins with white voters (72-27), men (65-34) and women (52-47). Davis beat Abbott among Latinos (57-42) and African-Americans (93-7). Last time I checked, though, there were thousands upon thousands of women in Texas considered Latina and African-American what about their votes?
As RH Reality Checks Andrea Grimes reports, their votes were solidly in Davis favor: 94 percent of black women and 61 percent of Latinas voted for her. Only 32 percent of white women did. Thats certainly not enough women to say that Abbott won the whole gender (though thats a ludicrous statement in the first place). It seems to be enough, though, to result in the erasure of votes from women of color, Grimes notes:
Youll hear that Greg Abbott carried women voters in Texas. Anyone who says that is also saying this: that Black women and Latinas are not women, and that carrying white women is enough to make the blanket statement that Abbott carried all women. That women generally failed to vote for Wendy Davis. As if women of color are some separate entity, some mysterious other, some bizarre demographic of not-women...
THE REST: http://www.salon.com/2014/11/06/white_women_didnt_just_fail_wendy_davis_they_failed_the_rest_of_texas_too/
JI7
(89,250 posts)Stargleamer
(1,989 posts)BlindTiresias
(1,563 posts)Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)funny stuff right there
villager
(26,001 posts)Sayeth this middle-aged white dude...
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)since I moved here is that NO ONE, EVER...talks politics. NO ONE. So, most of these results are based on party line voting, IMHO. And, NO ONE I have met seems to give a shit about the masses one iota. They hate "Obamacare" (say the word like they would say Hitler). They hate "freeloaders" - welfare, unemployment, etc. And, last year - I actually walked out and left a family (in-law) Thanksgiving weekend - after listening to two of my masters level educated health care professional SIL's complain about ACA.
Heather Kube
(19 posts)Talking about Obamacare and freeloaders and you had to leave a famiky event because your sister-in-laws were complaining about the ACA? That means your starting the conversation.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)They assume that you believe exactly what they do and they will make flippant off-handed remarks about liberals, blacks, women, etc. and you're just supposed to nod your head and agree with them.
If you don't, they become confused and then aggressive, but there's never a discussion. It's a "my way or the highway" mentality.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)I have reacted to the "off-handed" remark such as "blah, blah,blah that stupid Obamacare." "Or, I'm sick of paying for Joe down the street who is too lazy to work."
There are never intelligent conversations. In fact, I have only found a handful who even know any news at all...and they are always male - never female.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)discussions. I don't call ignorant, non factual complaining "conversation"
TBF
(32,062 posts)it's just not the normal straightforward conversation that you would find in the north (I am a transplant as well - moved to Texas over a decade ago w/spouses' job).
So, the conversation after a few pleasantries goes like this "so, have you found a church yet?" They are looking for identification here. They want to know if you are Baptist or other evangelical, in which they sense an ally and will immediately open up more. If you are not religious the best you can say is something like "I grew up Methodist" and they will give you suggestions of nearby churches to check out. If you tell them you're not religious the conversation is over and will never get to the point where you actually talk about issues. They will smile and talk about their kids and such, but it will never get deeper.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)That was one of the first things my family noticed when we moved to Texas. I've lived here 35 years and have been asked hundreds of times, "What church do you go to?" (I was never asked that when I lived in the northeast.) And when you tell them that you don't go to church, they always reply that they will pray for you.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Because I have lived in Houston almost literally my whole life, and no one has ever asked me that question. So, I'm assuming they figure they don't need to as I'm a native. That's why I'm constantly perplexed when people complain about always getting asked that question here.
It also depends on where you live. North and west Houston are strongholds of conservatives, including the SE side in and around NASA-JSC. I was so happy to move out of that sterile, planned-suburb area and "inside the loop" to some nice, older (and far more diverse) neighborhoods.
The SW side, going into Sugarland is changing for the better, possibly due to the influx of people from India. They've pretty much taken over Sugarland, and it always tickles me that such a former conservative stronghold (Tom Delay's district) has so many non-whites in it now
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)I lived there for 17 years and could not wait to escape (I moved back to Houston last year). There it was, "Do you go to Riverpoint? I go to Riverpoint. You should go to Riverpoint. I'm blessed. We're blessed. Have a blessed day, in Jesus' name! What bible camp is your daughter going to this summer? What bible study group are you in?" (My daughter's kindergarten teacher had a bible class from 5-9 pm every M-F.)
The only way my daughter could spend a Saturday night at a friend's house is if she went to church with the family on Sunday. And when I would do theatre, the actors would play a game backstage where they would quote the bible and you had to guess the verse.
How weird that we have such different experiences. I don't think my transplant status was a factor. I don't go around saying, I moved to Texas 35 years ago. Maybe I just look like a sinner.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)only that the conservatism is waning there, according to DUers here that live there now. I mostly grew up in the Clear Lake area, and after seven years in a sterile, typical suburban neighborhood in Webster, I finally moved into Houston for some character and relief! Yay! No more zoning!
I'd be surprised if people thought I looked Texan, what with my almost Conquistador mustache and goatee. Maybe they think I look more evil and don't bring up the subject
But truly, I have never been asked about my religion, what church I go to and so forth (I'm spiritual, but do not associate/identify with any particular religion.) However, I do agree about the topic of politics here. You just quickly learn not to bother talking with the brainwashed.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)Now that I think about it, it's usually married women asking me that question. My mom was also single when we moved here.
Maybe they find us single gals threatening.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)I've been married (and divorced) though I never wore a ring. Don't want to go into why, so that might be a reason I'm not asked, either
Marr
(20,317 posts)I can barely get through a two hour weekly book club, and the book changes all the time.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)Yeah, she was a piece of work. Bible study was her life and she talk about it nonstop if you let her.
TBF
(32,062 posts)still way too red. The west side is getting better but it is still really bad down here.
I did live in the Heights when I first moved to town & dream of moving back there! Parts of Houston are really cool Just not the suburbs.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)One conservative coworker here (he a nice guy other than his politics) mentioned how his wife is the only person in her whole school that can speak Spanish. That's in Katy, which is pretty much "White Central"
The first place I lived in Houston proper was off Durham on 24th. It was a nice little, mostly Latino neighborhood, but it's being gentrified now, with far too many fix-me-up bungalows turning into 5000' sq.ft. townhouse blocks. The Heights at least seems to have some rules or a strong enough neighborhood association to keep that kind of thing out, or limited in scope.
TBF
(32,062 posts)bungalows vs. townhomes. I don't mind when they redo a house to modernize (especially on a decent sized lot) but clearing bungalows to put in townhouses just ruins it all for me. I think the reason I liked the Heights is that it felt like a small town almost. Washaterias on the corner, bungalows, with a smattering of small businesses/restaurants. It'll be ruined if it's all just plowed down to put in McMansions of one sort or another.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)I take a class in the Heights and I overheard someone complaining about a 700-unit complex being planned (or maybe it's already being built). Not sure if it's apartments or something else, but they were complaining about how awful traffic would be.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)so weird and so fucking boring..how much can you talk about kids? My in-laws are all very well educated people with very good jobs/businesses and all they every talk about is other people. Even if not politics - not anything about the world in general
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)are they saying that white, married women are not 'women.'
Or that when people said Romney won among men, that they mean that Latino and black men are not 'men?'
If someone wins a majority of a demographic category, that is an observed fact, not racism.
Typical Salon outrage-bait.
alp227
(32,026 posts)given that people who hold conservative POV's often conform to the values of High Society(TM) y'know, marriage, a house in the 'burbs, 2 kids, a dog that kind of stuff. While those with more liberal POV's are willing to delay marriage and live in the city instead. So married women will put their self-interest before greater society's interest and vote for "pro life" type of candidate and so forth.
And as for men, when you've got right wing media promoting that True American Men(TM) vote Republican and should have conservative values in all sortsa ways, that's why there's the racial divide for men of different ethnicities & voting.
DFW
(54,397 posts)I'm white, married for decades (to the same woman) two kids, house in the burbs, and don't exactly have much of a record of voting for Republicans.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)I was about to say the same thing.
Including black and latina women in the group 'women' is saying that they are not women? Huh?
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)I don't get the outrage either.
Abbott won women overall...the fact that he lost black and Latina women doesn't change the fact that he won the women's vote overall, nor does it mean that black and Latina women are not being considered "women".
"If someone wins a majority of a demographic category, that is an observed fact, not racism." Exactly.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)progree
(10,908 posts)Well, that is where I got this according to my notes, but will have to struggle awhile to get to the right page again. Anyway, my notes say:
--v--Margin by which white females voted for Romney over Obama
[font color = red]
+13% white females overall
+24% married white females
+ 5% unmarried white females[/font] [font color = blue]-18% never married white females
-39% living with partner white females
-35% heterosexual and living with partner white females[/font]
Indentation is used to indicate subcategories. Red indicates categories that voted more for Romney than Obama. Blue is for the opposite -- voted for Obama more than Romney.
Anyway, unmarried white females (as a group) favored Romney too, by a margin of 5%, at least in this exit poll. Its those 3 blue subcategories of unmarried that broke in the Obama direction.
====================================
The post above was written a long time ago when there was a discussion of married vs. unmarried white female vote. (http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5205153 )
(In fairness, white men (as a group) are the worst of the worst -- they voted for Romney over Obama by 28 points.)
Triana
(22,666 posts)Thank you.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)... we view these results as a reflection of where we have work to do?
Too often, we treat results as a source of pride because a disfavored group (i.e. "old white men" voted for the other guys. I hope we haven't already forgotten the downside.
Instead of "worst of the worst" perhaps we should do some outreach.
Starting with; do you have the same polling breakdown for men?
progree
(10,908 posts)[font color = blue]>>Starting with; do you have the same polling breakdown for men?<<[/font]
No, I don't have the data. I've searched for at least an hour. It used to be at
http://elections.reuters.com/#poll
but now that morphs into
http://polling.reuters.com/#!response/PV9/type/month/filters/PARTY_ID_:2/dates/20121101-20141111
I've tried http://elections.reuters.com and http://polling.reuters.com
and I still get stupid charts crap about some recent questions like identifying with the ideals of the tea party
I've done innumerable Google searches
Here is something close -- its called the American Mosaic Exit Poll
http://dev-elections.reutersmagazine.com/#poll
but I couldn't get anywhere with it. (I'm sure this is what I used back in late 2012 after the election).
Unbelievable to me that its all just gone.
Maybe I'll try the Wayback Machine, but have blown a whole evening on this already. And is a long shot (I wouldn't expect a software tool to work there)
[hr][hr]
But I found this:
American Mosaic Exit Poll - Romney's Share of the vote (this is a few results from the Reuters thing)
http://isteve.blogspot.com/2012/11/heres-other-exit-poll-data-that-nobody.html
Here is everything on his chart that includes whites (except white & religion):
Romney's share of the vote
65.0 Married white men
61.9 Married white women
50.6 single white men
44.3 single white women
63.3 married whites
47.5 single whites
58.1 Whites
[hr][hr]
Regional differences come into play big time:
In 2012, Obama won only 10% of the white vote in Mississippi and 15% in Alabama. Overall, Obama won about 46% of the white vote outside the South and 27% of the white vote in the South - Nation 2/25/13
[hr][hr]
==another one===
Southern white working class - 40 point margin for Romney over Obama, apparently 09/30/12
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120930/COLUMNISTS21/309300041/1001/Joseph-Gerth-Polls-suggest-Kentucky-voters-gone-South?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7Cp
(note this is a pre-election poll, not an exit poll, but interesting)
...poll conducted a few weeks ago by the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington, D.C., ... that poll found that in the South, among white working class voters, Republican Mitt Romney leads Obama by the astounding vote of 62-22 percent a 40 percentage point difference.
The poll defined working class as having less than a bachelors degree and being paid by the hour or by the job.
No other region in the country had anywhere near that differential. In the West, Romney led by just 5 percentage points among white working class voters. In the Northeast, he leads by 4 percentage points. And in the Midwest, Obama leads Romney by 8 percentage points among white working class voters.
[hr][hr]
Here is an exit poll that has some breakdowns, like by
# Gender # Race # Gender & Race # Marital Status # Gender & Martial Status
http://edition.cnn.com/election/2012/results/race/president#exit-polls
but doesn't have a breakdown for Gender & Race & Marital Status, so nothing on, for example, white married females.
[hr][hr]
[font color = blue]>>How about... instead of thinking which group is the biggest problem...
... we view these results as a reflection of where we have work to do? <<[/font]
I agree. It is so important to drill down into the subcategories of the subcategories of the subcategories to understand where the differences are before beginning to understand why and how to concentrate limited outreach resources effectively.
TBF
(32,062 posts)it down in Texas - it is the white anglo men.
I am a middle-aged woman living here & I managed to get to the polls to vote for Wendy.
But you are missing a HUGE piece here - it is the churches that have the power in Texas. It is the religious women (not to mention the men) - and more specifically the evangelical - who are voting against any and all progressives, democrats, etc.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)voted for Abbott. It's a very simple formula for them: liberals = abortion. And if they support liberals, it means that they can't get into heaven. They just can't see beyond that.
madville
(7,410 posts)All the religious white women I know down here (and that is most of them) are very anti-abortion and vocal about it. I purged many people from Facebook recently because all their religious and conservative stuff was taking up my whole news feed.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Plenty of white women voted for Wendy Davis.