This would, on the face of it, sound like a terrible idea. Trump’s own allies are rolling their eyes at his attempts to write off the first female presidential nominee as some kind of affirmative action candidate, a sign that attacks on Hillary Clinton’s gender could backfire spectacularly. It is the year 2016, after all. And yet some political observers acknowledge that these attacks could be effective in undermining Clinton’s perceived strengths, according to the Times:
“By taking gender head-on, Trump refuses to cede women voters and so-called women’s issues to Hillary just because she is a woman,” said Kellyanne Conway, Republican a pollster who heads a “super PAC” supporting Senator Ted Cruz.
“He is ‘Swiftboating’ her by throwing shade on what should be a strength,” Ms. Conway said...
The disconcerting thing is that Trump has proven time and again that he has unerring sense of how to cut down his opponents. As Jeet Heer has written, he has the ability to “contaminate everything he touches,” and this could very well include a historic milestone for women’s rights. Will voters really buy it? America, don’t let this happen.