Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright backlash hurts Hillary Clinton with voters

Bringing feminist Gloria Steinem and former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright onto the campaign trail, where they both chastised younger women for not supporting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, may be the reason why Mrs. Clinton lost the female vote so handily in New Hampshire, analysts say.

“One of the jarring things that occurred here, and it’s sort of been underreported … is the quote from Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem supposedly to get women to support Hillary Clinton only because she’s a woman,” political columnist Mike Barnicle said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. “That does not work. It did not work, and I think a lot of younger women especially found it offensive.”

On the campaign trail in New Hampshire last week, Ms. Albright introduced Mrs. Clinton, also a former secretary of state, to the crowd and repeated one of her often-used memes: “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”

Immediately, backlash against the comment went viral.

“I don’t need @madeleine Albright telling me I’m going to hell just because I’m a woman who’s not voting for @HillaryClinton #FeelTheBern,” Sarah wrote on Twitter.

“Hey Madeleine Albright, at least in that hell you just cast me into I’ll #FeelTheBern,” tweeted Shoshanna Howard, a communications director at FullCourtPress, a social change organization.

As social media ignited, Jess Lehrich, Mrs. Clinton’s rapid-response spokesman tweeted, “Peeps freaking out about that Madeleine Albright quote: It’s not new — it was literally on a Starbucks cup.”

Still, Ms. Albright’s comments were compounded with a statement by Ms. Steinem, who is also stumping for Mrs. Clinton.

Over the weekend, Ms. Steinem told comedian Bill Maher on his late-night TV show “Real Time” that the reason young women are supporting Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont over Mrs. Clinton is because “men tend to get more conservative because they gain power as they age, and women get more radical because they lose power as they age.”

She continued to explain Mr. Sanders’ support among young women: “When you’re young, you’re thinking ’Where are the boys?’ The boys are with Bernie.”

Ms. Steinem apologized on her Facebook page and said her comments were “Talk-show Interruptus.”

“I misspoke on the Bill Maher show recently, and apologize for what’s been misinterpreted as implying young women aren’t serious in their politics,” Ms. Steinem wrote.

On Sunday, Mrs. Clinton defended her surrogates. She said in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Ms. Albright’s words were a “lighthearted but very pointed remark, which people can take however they choose.”

Mrs. Clinton said the fight for women’s rights isn’t over and that millennials need to be cognizant and appreciative of the progress made by women before them.

“I think what [Ms. Albright] was trying to do, what she’s done in every setting I’ve ever seen her in going back 20-plus years, was to remind you women, particularly, that you know, this struggle, which many of us have been part of, is not over,” Mrs. Clinton said.

This is a message that’s clearly not resonating with the younger generation, said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

“To young women, whose mothers may be doctors or lawyers, or who may have a boss that is a woman, the world looks and feels different than the one Hillary Clinton is describing,” Mr. Smith said. “The message Clinton is pitching doesn’t resonate. It’s not their world. Sanders is giving a speech that’s more in line with their experiences and with the values of these younger voters.”

Mr. Sanders said gender shouldn’t play a part in electing the next president of the United States.

“Well, look, I think that is an unfortunate statement,” Mr. Sanders said of Ms. Albright’s comments. In Concord, New Hampshire, on Sunday, he said, “Women should help women, women should help men, men should help women, men should help men. That’s what life is about. We’re now talking about electing the president of the United States, and people should make their decision based on who they think can do the job best.”

In New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton lost the female vote by 11 percentage points with seven in 10 women younger than 45 voting for Mr. Sanders.

In Iowa last week, women 29 and younger voted by a 6-to-1 margin for Mr. Sanders over Mrs. Clinton, according to polling conducted by The Associated Press.