I noticed a few years ago that conservatives were starting to criticize Democrats for being, in the words of the vice-presidential candidate JD Vance in 2021, the party of "childless cat ladies." At the time, Vance called out Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pete Buttigieg as "miserable" because they didn't have biological children (though Buttigieg has since become a father). The implication was that unless you have kids the old-fashioned way, you don't have a direct stake in the future of the country and therefore cannot be a good legislator. This line of attack was renewed when it became obvious that Kamala Harris was the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Prominent conservatives immediately jumped to say that she was not a good candidate because she never gave birth to children, despite the fact that she has a close relationship with her stepkids. That's because "becoming a step-parent to older teenagers doesn't count," Will Chamberlain, who worked on Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign, posted on X. As I wrote in an essay for Opinion, this is a very stupid tactic politically. Lots of swing voters are stepparents and adults who have close relationships with kids in their lives — why insult and alienate them for no good reason? But the idea that you cannot be a good legislator unless you are a parent is also corrosive and reveals a stunning lack of empathy. At the very least, I want a president who can care about people who are not exactly like them and who make decisions different from their own. But beyond that — as I detail in the essay — in her words and policy preferences around paid leave, elder care and child care, Harris has shown that she's the most pro-family candidate in the race. That should matter far more than the structure of her household. Here's what we're focusing on today:
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Thursday, July 25, 2024
Opinion Today: So what if Kamala Harris doesn’t have biological children?
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