In the seven days since the U.S. election, I have seen many pundits and social media warriors blame a “racist” and “misogynist” voting base for preventing Kamala Harris from becoming president.
I don’t buy it. Kamala Harris was dealt a losing hand, regardless of race and gender.
The U.S. has elected a black president twice in recent years, so, in this high-stakes game, race is an invalid trump card.
In a more “democratic” presidential campaign for the 2020 election, Harris could not get the support of her own party and folded before the flop (Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign). She could not even cover the ante.
Harris did not fail in 2024 because of her gender; she was sold down the river by her own party.
Harris was thrown to the wolves because the Democratic Party elite was caught cheating (Democratic Party’s ‘Good vs Evil’ campaign dies in its bed of lies). A campaign betting on moral superiority was an easily detected bluff, and we saw voters from Pennsylvania to Texas holdem accountable.
The Democrats were merely Biden time as the big blind – playing out the game on a very shaky house of cards.
In poker parlance, this was akin to going all-in with off-suit 2-7 and the shark across the table holding pocket aces.
A closer look at gender reveals that North Americans will indeed vote for women who are strong candidates and are not last-minute fill-ins for failing presidents.
In the U.S. senate, women hold 25 out of 100 seats. Twelve women are state governors.
North of the border, Danielle Smith is enjoying great success as premier of the Canadian province of Alberta. That’s right, Alberta … where there are two official languages; English and redneck.
Alberta – where the phrase “Hold my beer” prevents the province from ever becoming overpopulated.
Alberta – where they think Canada is a genre, and their country is music.
Alberta – where victims are asked to identify perpetrators from a police line dance.
OK, you get the point; Alberta is a VERY conservative region. In fact, Albertans have voted in the conservative party 14 of the last 15 provincial elections … and I think the one exception was because voters thought that “NDP” stood for “No Dude Parades!”.
Danielle Smith received a 91.5% approval rating in a recent leadership review by her conservative peers. She is a strong, principled leader who makes difficult decisions and shows remarkable grace under fire (Ottawa should ‘stay in their own lane’: Danielle Smith).
North Americans will vote for humans of any colour, and they will vote for women. Next time around, perhaps the Democratic Party will nominate a female candidate without stacking the odds against her.
