'What happens in the voting booth stays in the voting booth': Harris bets on secret women's vote

Photo: Steven Senne Associated Press A voter casts her ballot during early voting in the U.S. presidential election, Nov. 1, 2024, in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Aurélia End – Agence France-Presse in Washington

Published at 16:08

• United States

“What happens in the voting booth stays in the voting booth.” In the final sprint of the US election campaign, an ad featuring a woman voting for Kamala Harris in secret from her Trumpist husband has caused quite a stir.

In this 30-second clip, voiced by actress Julia Roberts, a couple arrives at the polling station. Their caps embroidered with patriotic symbols suggest they are supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump.

But the wife checks the box for “Kamala Harris,” after exchanging a knowing glance with another woman over the cardboard screen that hides each voting station.

“No one will know,” the voice says off, before the husband asks, “You made the right choice?” and his wife replies, “Of course, honey.”

The ad, funded by a religious group, has sparked fury from the opposing camp.

Donald Trump criticized the ad as “stupid,” and asked: “Can you imagine a woman who doesn't tell her husband who she's voting for ?”.

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“Corruption”

On the Fox News channel, popular with conservatives, a star presenter said that if his partner voted in secret for Kamala Harris, “it would be as if she was cheating on him,” while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich judged that this video illustrated the Moral “corruption” of the democratic camp.

The Lincoln Project, a group founded by moderate conservatives, ran a similar ad showing two men, dressed bourgeoisly, assuring with smirks that their wives will vote for Donald Trump. Then the camera shows that the two women vote for the Democratic candidate.

These videos, and the furious reaction of the Trumpists, illustrate two characteristics of this campaign.

First, that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are really fighting for the slightest vote in this presidential race that is perhaps the most undecided that the United States has ever known.

Second, that the Democratic candidate is banking on the mobilization of women in an ultra-tight race that could see voters diverge like never before.

According to the latest tally published by NBC, Kamala Harris has a 16-point lead in women's voting intentions, and Donald Trump has an 18-point lead in men's voting intentions.

This cumulative gap or “gender gap” of 34 points, unprecedented, demonstrates the very strong importance in the campaign of the right to abortion, challenged in about twenty conservative states with the blessing of the Supreme Court, and which the Democratic candidate vigorously defends.

Clooney

More generally, the election sees a clash between “a traditional and patriarchal vision of masculinity”, carried by a Donald Trump who presents himself as a “protector” women, and a Kamala Harris whose message “is less aligned with stereotypical or traditional roles,” says Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor at Rutgers University.

Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who has rallied to Kamala Harris, has openly bet on the “secret” vote for the Democrat.

“There are going to be a number of women and men who are going to go to the polls and vote their conscience and vote for Vice President Harris. They will never say it publicly, but the results will speak for themselves,” assured the daughter of George W. Bush’s former vice president, Dick Cheney.

“If you are a woman living with men who do not listen to you or do not value your opinion, remember that your vote is a private matter. “No matter what your partner's political views are, the choice is yours,” former First Lady Michelle Obama also recently said.

The Harris camp’s quest for the “secret” vote doesn’t stop with women. The group that funded the Julia Roberts-narrated ad has now released another one, this time featuring a voter choosing the vice president without telling his Trumpist buddies, with another star, George Clooney, as narrator.