Quote · The Bulwark Podcast
Jane Coaston: POTUS's Racism Notches Another Win
Where this was said
Repealing the 19th Amendment: Loser Talk
At 1:08:25 · chapter starts 1:06:30
Tim Miller reads from Haralabos Voulgaris's tweet calling the 19th Amendment a permanent alteration of the electorate that empowered 'the politics of emotion over order' and arguing the family — not the individual — should be the unit of political representation. Miller notes, with visible relish, that Voulgaris has not found a mate and is frequently seen courtside with younger women. Jane Coaston methodically dismantles the logic: the 19th Amendment has been in place for 106 years, which means every election from Herbert Hoover onward has been conducted under its terms. [1] — Jane Coaston "Could I convince women of my political views? It's loser talk. It's like, we can't win, so we just won't. We just won't do it." 1:08:25 The argument implicitly condemns the Greatest Generation's elections and every midterm since. She then makes the real point: calling for the repeal of women's suffrage is not a bold political stance — it is 'loser talk,' an admission of failure. The right cannot convince women to vote for them, so it would rather strip the franchise. She ties this to the parallel push to prosecute women who have abortions, noting that the only objection conservatives consistently voice to that policy is that the polling is bad — not that it would be wrong.
A fringe but growing movement among right-wing figures is calling for repeal of the 19th Amendment — passed 106 years ago — claiming it empowered emotion over order in politics.
Calls to repeal the 19th Amendment aren't ideology — they're an admission of failure. If you can't persuade women to vote for you after 106 years, the problem isn't suffrage. It's that lots of women vote Republican, fewer than they used to, and the right would rather strip rights than make a better case.
