"It's so bad": How Warren and Klobuchar are navigating sexism

On Sunday night, she reminded more than 100 voters gathered here during a snowstorm that while Democrats “better not screw this up.” But she added, “If you don’t think a woman can beat Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi does it every single day,” a line she had previously deployed in a debate.

“I never intended to, nor am I running on it, running on, ‘Oh, elect a woman.’ … When Obama was going to be the first African American president, he did not [play up] that very much,” Klobuchar said. “[But] as you can see by some of these numbers in polls, what people are hearing on the ground, I still think it’s a major factor. And sometimes I think people aren’t really even realizing it in their head, and I think they need to grapple with it and we need to make the case.”

Still, there are risks for both candidates because “you don’t want to be seen as the candidate who is complaining, which complicates how you can call out sexism,” said Ian Sams, the national press secretary for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. “Walking that fine line — identifying it without being seen as playing the victim card — is very hard to do, and what they’re dealing with now.”