Sir, – In discussing the prospects of Kamala Harris in the forthcoming US presidential election (“Kamala Harris should have been given the chance to prove herself”, Opinion & Analysis, July 24th), Daniel Geary states as a fact that “if it were not for sexism among many American voters” Hillary Clinton would have won in 2016. He then adds that she ran a terrible campaign.
I’m not sure the outcome can be credibly attributed to “sexism”. She won the overall popular vote. Among women voters, she had 54 per cent support. In total, she had almost three million more votes than her rival. But a major difference in non-college educated white women voters proved decisive in battle-ground states. In this demographic, she attracted 35 per cent support to her rival’s 64 per cent. Dismissing them as sexist appears simplistic. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.