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Commentary – The Biggest Divides On The Kavanaugh Allegations Are By Party Not Gender

FiveThirtyEight: “Americans are deeply divided in how they view accusations of sexual assault, sexual harassment and other kinds of sexual misconduct. They’re divided on broader issues about gender and the role of women in American society. But, with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week and new allegations coming out against Kavanaugh on Sunday, it’s worth noting that the biggest divide is not between men and women on these issues, but between Democrats and Republicans. Maybe that’s not too surprising when it comes to Ford’s allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were in high school. A HuffPost/YouGov poll released last week found that 34 percent of men did not find Ford’s allegation credible, compared with 23 percent of women. Yet 60 percent of Republicans did not think her allegation was credible, compared with 8 percent of Democrats. But this pattern — a bigger split by party than by gender — is not just seen in heavily partisan situations, like a Supreme Court nomination fight. Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center asked how the increased attention on sexual assault and harassment has affected workplace dynamics. Overall, about 51 percent of Americans said it is now harder for men to know how to interact with women at work, compared with 33 percent who said it didn’t make much of a difference. Sixty-four percent of Republicans and 55 percent of men said it was harder for men to navigate the workplace in the #MeToo era, compared with 42 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of women. That’s a 22-point partisan gap, compared with only an 8-point gender gap. In a CNN poll conducted last year, 85 percent of Democrats said that sexual harassment is an “extremely serious” or “very serious” problem in the U.S., compared with 45 percent of Republicans. Again, the gender gap was more narrow: 73 percent of women and 63 percent of men said sexual harassment is an extremely or very serious problem. The #MeToo movement, according to a recent HuffPost/YouGov poll, is viewed favorably by 71 percent of Democrats, 51 percent of women, 36 percent of men and 26 percent of Republicans…”

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