:00:00. > :00:00.candidate and how do Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump stack up? Well, the
:00:00. > :00:07.BBC's Katty Kay went looking for the answers.
:00:08. > :00:17.You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting
:00:18. > :00:25.animals. Your Twitter at account... Only Rosie O'Donnell. No, it wasn't.
:00:26. > :00:31.He has said things I wish he had not said. I would ask him to be
:00:32. > :00:35.cognisant of his tone. Donald Trump's rhetoric towards women has
:00:36. > :00:39.become a flashpoint in a presidential election that will pit
:00:40. > :00:43.a man against a woman. The women get it better than we do, folks. Or
:00:44. > :00:49.write? They get it better than we do. It is said to be the most gender
:00:50. > :00:51.driven election in US history with Hillary Clinton the first-ever
:00:52. > :00:57.female nominee for the White House -- all right? If fighting for
:00:58. > :01:03.women's healthcare and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the
:01:04. > :01:06.woman card, then deal me in! # American woman. The biggest reason
:01:07. > :01:10.both candidates are carefully courting women in this campaign is
:01:11. > :01:15.that women will control who wins the White House. More women vote in
:01:16. > :01:22.America than men and research shows that they have decided the last five
:01:23. > :01:27.US elections. Who do women want, and how are they changing political
:01:28. > :01:43.landscapes of America? -- the political landscape of America? # on
:01:44. > :01:47.the floor. Beauty pageants are a peculiarly American tradition. They
:01:48. > :01:51.became popular in the early 1920s and have spawned a billion-dollar
:01:52. > :01:56.industry around the world. For many, pageants are just glorified beauty
:01:57. > :02:01.contests but for participants Alison Johnson and Portia Taylor it is all
:02:02. > :02:06.about empowerment. We met them at the district of Columbia heat of the
:02:07. > :02:10.Miss United States pageant. It gets me outside my comfort zone, like, it
:02:11. > :02:15.is terrifying but exhilarating at the same time. This morning I was
:02:16. > :02:18.like, why am I going through this? Getting outside your comfort zone,
:02:19. > :02:21.it is good to do something that scares you and what is more scary
:02:22. > :02:28.than getting on stage in a swimming suit?! I mean, seriously. Donald
:02:29. > :02:33.Trump is the former owner of the Miss universe organisation, so it is
:02:34. > :02:37.little surprise perhaps that is often incendiary comments about
:02:38. > :02:41.women reflect a keen interest in women's looks -- Miss Universe.
:02:42. > :02:44.Alison, who is studying for a Masters in International Relations,
:02:45. > :02:48.and Portia, a businesswoman, are not impressed with some of the things
:02:49. > :02:52.that they have heard. It was kind of degrading, Trump's words about
:02:53. > :02:56.women. I don't see as many nice things to say about women. I don't
:02:57. > :03:02.think there is anything we can't do. Moving beyond his words. You know,
:03:03. > :03:07.we are powerful. As Americans decide whether to elect their first woman
:03:08. > :03:11.president, Mr Trump's comments on women have become a national
:03:12. > :03:19.conversation. # who do you think you are? The only Kaji has is the
:03:20. > :03:24.women's card, nothing else going for her, and frankly if she was a man
:03:25. > :03:33.she wouldn't get 5% of the vote -- card.
:03:34. > :03:41.He referred to my hands, if they are small, something else must be small.
:03:42. > :03:49.I guarantee you, there is nothing wrong with it. # who do you think
:03:50. > :03:54.you are? You are never gonna get my love. Donald Trump is currently
:03:55. > :03:58.polling worse with women than any presidential candidate since 1972.
:03:59. > :04:02.One way to improve his standing is his choice of vice president. A name
:04:03. > :04:08.in contention is Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. If you were
:04:09. > :04:11.speaking to Mr Trump right now would you ask it to change the way he
:04:12. > :04:18.speaks about women? He has said things I wish he had not said. I
:04:19. > :04:23.would ask him to be cognisant of his tone, and his demeanour. When he
:04:24. > :04:28.stood up there in the debate and made a not very subtle reference to
:04:29. > :04:31.the size of his penis, I watched that and as a mother of four
:04:32. > :04:36.children I thought, I don't think I want my young daughter watching this
:04:37. > :04:42.on television. Right, and those are the things you look at and say, I
:04:43. > :04:46.wish that you had not done that. And I know that Mr Trump is reaching out
:04:47. > :04:51.to female voters. It doesn't bother you the way he talks about women, it
:04:52. > :04:57.hasn't bothered you, it hasn't been enough to think, I don't like this
:04:58. > :05:01.tone? You know, Katty, whether it was working in a male dominated
:05:02. > :05:04.profession or here in Washington, you have people that say
:05:05. > :05:10.inappropriate things. And I think most women are like me. You have
:05:11. > :05:21.heard enough of it through the years that you don't excuse it and you
:05:22. > :05:25.don't embrace it, you push it aside. The women Trump really needs to win
:05:26. > :05:31.over live in the suburbs of swing states like Pennsylvania. This is
:05:32. > :05:34.where this election will be decided. It is hard to believe that this
:05:35. > :05:40.sleepy neighbourhood is the frontline in the battle the White
:05:41. > :05:47.House. If you are a college educated, white single woman living
:05:48. > :05:54.in a suburb like this, you are the hottest commodity in this election
:05:55. > :05:58.campaign. In 2012, these suburban women comprised almost a quarter of
:05:59. > :06:05.the US electorate. Their biggest concern is tend to be the economy,
:06:06. > :06:11.education and health. Get your programmes. To social events that
:06:12. > :06:16.are non- part -- part is in league we met these three women. What
:06:17. > :06:19.things matter to you for the presidential candidate? It is
:06:20. > :06:24.important to discuss the economy and the Next Generation. It is really
:06:25. > :06:28.important to discuss education. I am looking to make sure everyone has
:06:29. > :06:32.access to healthcare, quality education. That income inequality,
:06:33. > :06:35.if we don't fix it, at least we decrease it. And part of what I am
:06:36. > :06:41.looking at is how the conversation is held. All three of you, what do
:06:42. > :06:46.you think of the tone of this election campaign? It is really
:06:47. > :06:50.distressing, the kind of language that we're hearing, the messages
:06:51. > :06:56.that we're getting about women, and regardless of how one feels about
:06:57. > :06:59.Hillary Clinton a candidate, the fact that she is damp if she does
:07:00. > :07:03.and damp if she doesn't, not feminine and or overly masculine, or
:07:04. > :07:08.too harsh or to a emotional, the language we haven't heard really
:07:09. > :07:15.overly in decades and it is almost as if people have been given her
:07:16. > :07:18.mission now because of the level of vitriol in the discourse to say it
:07:19. > :07:21.out loud and it is prevalent -- too emotional. To think these
:07:22. > :07:24.conversations are shaping the presidential debate currently in my
:07:25. > :07:29.daughter's lifetime is astonishing to me. These women fear America has
:07:30. > :07:34.taken a step backwards in the March for gender equality. It really does
:07:35. > :07:38.feel shocking and maybe it is an overcorrection, maybe potential is
:07:39. > :07:44.swinging back but it does really seem that the tone of some of the
:07:45. > :07:51.candidates involved has given people permission to really just sort of go
:07:52. > :07:56.to the basis level -- march. Or maybe women were always held to a
:07:57. > :08:00.different, more difficult standard. After all, allegations of sexism
:08:01. > :08:05.were rife in Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign as well. And it it is not
:08:06. > :08:11.for no reason that there are only 20 women out of 100 in the US Senate --
:08:12. > :08:13.And it is not. The world of American politics generally is not
:08:14. > :08:22.particularly hospitable to women. Hello. Amy Kloeden Shah should know.
:08:23. > :08:28.She is the democratic senator, Hillary supporter and a keen
:08:29. > :08:32.observer of sexism in US politics. Has Hillary Clinton attacked in ways
:08:33. > :08:36.that a man would not meet dash back was attacked? Yes, the idea that
:08:37. > :08:42.somehow she doesn't have enough energy when she has been Secretary
:08:43. > :08:45.of State and visited hundreds of countries and sit through ten, 11
:08:46. > :08:50.hours of Benghazi hearing without missing a beat -- Amy Klobuchar.
:08:51. > :08:53.When she was able to campaign all across the country and be strong in
:08:54. > :08:58.every single debate if you watch those debates. That takes a lot of
:08:59. > :09:03.strength. A lot of the women who are older who support Hillary want to
:09:04. > :09:07.know her better. They came up when Bill Clinton was president and she
:09:08. > :09:11.was an outstanding First Lady. They saw her in the US Senate and how she
:09:12. > :09:16.operated. So now you have a new generation that didn't see her in
:09:17. > :09:18.those roles. In fact, many of them were hardly voting when she was
:09:19. > :09:22.Secretary of State. You have that issue and she has to reintroduce
:09:23. > :09:38.herself in a non- primary setting when it is her versus Trump. If
:09:39. > :09:43.Pennsylvania win for Donald Trump, I believe he will win the presidency.
:09:44. > :09:46.Although this is traditionally democratic country, picking up
:09:47. > :09:51.Pennsylvania is Trump's most feasible route to the White House.
:09:52. > :09:56.It is a steep climb, but local Republican operatives say they are
:09:57. > :09:59.noticing a surprising shift. More than 45,000 registered Democrats
:10:00. > :10:04.have changed their party allegiance in the last few months. A lot of
:10:05. > :10:08.women coming in, they have changed their party in the primary in order
:10:09. > :10:12.to have a say in the vote for Donald Trump, so all the stuff out there
:10:13. > :10:16.about Trump and women, we are not seeing that, definitely not feeling
:10:17. > :10:20.that in Philadelphia. When you say that you are seeing lifelong
:10:21. > :10:22.democratic voters switched to the Republican Party because of Donald
:10:23. > :10:29.Trump, where are they coming from on the map? They are coming from here,
:10:30. > :10:34.all through here, here and up here. And what's going to be the ground
:10:35. > :10:39.game for making sure those voters turn out and vote for Trump, and
:10:40. > :10:45.particularly for getting those women to turn out? We've been knocking on
:10:46. > :10:48.doors for months now already. Maybe you are undecided or maybe you like
:10:49. > :10:53.Trump but don't care about voting. My goal is to pull you out. That is
:10:54. > :10:57.the process we are running. You have started? Already, we started three
:10:58. > :11:03.months ago. Millions of women voted for Trump in the primaries and one
:11:04. > :11:06.of them is Lyn Ryan, a Pennsylvania delegate at the Republican
:11:07. > :11:10.convention in July. She owns a gardening business and likes Trump's
:11:11. > :11:15.views on trade. It is ridiculous that people think that you know a
:11:16. > :11:18.women can't be fought Donald Trump because he is a man or he has said a
:11:19. > :11:23.few egregious statements about women. I don't agree with everything
:11:24. > :11:28.that he says but you know for heaven sakes, this isn't just a one issue
:11:29. > :11:32.contest. This is the leader of the free world and we need to be safe,
:11:33. > :11:38.so I think that he will do the best job to keep us safe and to try to
:11:39. > :11:43.grow the economy -- heaven's sakes. He definitely knows how to run a
:11:44. > :11:47.business. Beyond the economy the attacks in Orlando Shook America and
:11:48. > :11:52.highlighted the electoral importance of terrorism. Republican women
:11:53. > :11:56.anyway tend to feel that national security is a more important issue
:11:57. > :11:59.than democratic women, and they say they want a president who will be
:12:00. > :12:05.tough on terrorism. Someone, perhaps, like Donald Trump. I think
:12:06. > :12:09.that being a businessman and his stamps on national security, you
:12:10. > :12:12.know, the economy is very important but if you don't have a secure
:12:13. > :12:21.border and if you don't have safety within your borders then the economy
:12:22. > :12:24.is inconsequential -- stance on. Lynn is not moved by the historic
:12:25. > :12:33.nature of Hillary Clinton's candidacy. So, please, come out and
:12:34. > :12:38.vote, be part of this great campaign! We're gonna go to
:12:39. > :12:42.Philadelphia and we're going to win in November! Thank you, and God
:12:43. > :12:46.bless you! At for many American women the possibility of putting a
:12:47. > :12:51.woman in the White House after 44 male presidents is irresistible --
:12:52. > :12:55.But. I think she knows first hand what it's like to climb that
:12:56. > :12:58.corporate ladder and to be in the good old boys club and people like
:12:59. > :13:02.me who are doing it as well, following her footsteps, it is hard
:13:03. > :13:06.sometimes, and I think I am sure you know it also, and I think she gets
:13:07. > :13:09.it not only from professional experience but personal as well. Is
:13:10. > :13:14.it important that she is a woman, and would be the first woman
:13:15. > :13:17.president? Of course! It is so important. That is why I have
:13:18. > :13:21.brought my daughters. This is history in the making. They have to
:13:22. > :13:28.see this. It Hillary good for women? Absolutely. Why? She has a long
:13:29. > :13:34.history of serving women and families and her platform speech to
:13:35. > :13:39.that as well. -- speaks. The women who turned up to this rally feel
:13:40. > :13:43.passionately about Hillary Clinton and will vote for her but her
:13:44. > :13:47.campaign has thrown up an interesting phenomenon, a generation
:13:48. > :13:50.gap among female voters here. Older women seem to support Clinton
:13:51. > :13:55.because they urgently want a female president and they want it now.
:13:56. > :13:58.Younger women tend to feel confident that they are going to get a theatre
:13:59. > :14:03.president at some point in their lifetime, they're just not sure they
:14:04. > :14:12.want it to be Hillary Clinton -- female president.
:14:13. > :14:17.Philadelphia is celebrating summer with Chinese lanterns and American
:14:18. > :14:20.democracy. The Democrats will hold their convention here in July, and
:14:21. > :14:25.their nominee will be Hillary Clinton. Many men O'Neill is still
:14:26. > :14:29.wish it was Bernie Sanders. And the young women we met here were still
:14:30. > :14:34.reluctant to shift to Quentin -- many women here still wish. She
:14:35. > :14:39.doesn't really appeal to me. There hasn't been a city of attitude from
:14:40. > :14:44.people in my age group, I guess, towards her. I don't feel like
:14:45. > :14:49.people should vote for her just because she is a woman and she has
:14:50. > :14:51.made it this far. I think you should vote for somebody who was actually
:14:52. > :14:56.qualified and who they believe in. Their track record is hard to
:14:57. > :15:00.follow. She seems to change your opinion a lot. Depending on the
:15:01. > :15:04.place where she is in and who she is speaking to. She should appeal
:15:05. > :15:08.because I think it is great a woman is going to run for president. I
:15:09. > :15:12.think the reason she doesn't appeal as much to my generation is because
:15:13. > :15:20.she looks a bit stiff and robotic and people don't know about her
:15:21. > :15:25.personally. Yes, I was Bill Clinton's lover for 12 years. And
:15:26. > :15:29.for the past two years, I have lied to the press about a relationship to
:15:30. > :15:33.protect him. People may feel they don't know the real Hillary Clinton,
:15:34. > :15:40.but there is not much about a story that is in public. I did not have
:15:41. > :15:46.sexual relations with that woman. I never told anybody to lie, not a
:15:47. > :15:51.civil time. Never. -- single time. These allegations are false. For
:15:52. > :15:58.those too young to have lived through her time as first Lady, the
:15:59. > :16:03.sordid side of a President-- husband's presidency is getting a
:16:04. > :16:07.second hearing from Donald Trump. She is married to a man who is the
:16:08. > :16:15.worst abuser of women in the history of politics. She is married to an
:16:16. > :16:23.end who hurt many women, and Hillary, she heard many women. The
:16:24. > :16:26.women he abused. -- head. In painting had somehow complicit in
:16:27. > :16:29.his affairs, Donald Trump has done something audacious. Something that
:16:30. > :16:36.may just resonate with younger women. Times have changed since the
:16:37. > :16:39.1990s, and there is little tolerance today for women who don't stand up
:16:40. > :16:46.for younger women who have been sexually misused. But for Clinton's
:16:47. > :16:51.supporters, Hillary Clinton as an enabler is a bizarre line of attack.
:16:52. > :16:54.I think all of these attacks are ridiculous and I think that women
:16:55. > :17:00.are going to see through these attacks for they are, which is just
:17:01. > :17:04.a way to bring down this debate. In terms of attacking a woman for what
:17:05. > :17:08.husband does, I think people think that is ridiculous. I don't think
:17:09. > :17:18.anyone. Mike I don't think anyone blames Beyonce if anything -- for
:17:19. > :17:23.anything from Jay Z did. Donald Trump's strategy is to make the
:17:24. > :17:28.debate so cause is that he turns off voters and people look away from
:17:29. > :17:32.politics and think it is too ugly. I think that will be incumbent upon
:17:33. > :17:43.Hillary to give people a reason to vote. The more you explored the role
:17:44. > :17:47.of women, the more you realise it is just as critical to understand the
:17:48. > :17:52.changing situation of American men. Women here and are better educated
:17:53. > :17:56.than men, a quarter of them earn more than men, and they control most
:17:57. > :18:07.spending decisions. It is not the world a working American men
:18:08. > :18:11.expected. Welcome back, we are broadcasting across Virginia. This
:18:12. > :18:15.conservative talk show broadcast across Virginia. The coasts as he
:18:16. > :18:23.was the first American journalist to predict that if Donald Trump round,
:18:24. > :18:27.he would wind. -- post says. They have no advocate, and I knew based
:18:28. > :18:32.on studying Trump for some time and based on his trade in other
:18:33. > :18:37.positions, he was going to hit a real chord with them. You talk about
:18:38. > :18:44.the voice of the white American mall. Why? What is it they are
:18:45. > :18:49.feeling? -- American male. They are squeezed in their jobs, their
:18:50. > :18:53.benefits, their ability to provide for their families, and although we
:18:54. > :18:56.have many households in America whose primary income is now the
:18:57. > :19:02.female, there are many men who are in this middle class echelon that
:19:03. > :19:07.want to be able to provide for their families in the way their father
:19:08. > :19:12.did, and their grandfather did. They feel they are losing that ability.
:19:13. > :19:18.Combine that with the political correctness, with the Obama apology
:19:19. > :19:22.tour around the globe, and a lot of men just feel something is going on
:19:23. > :19:25.in America that is not consistent with the way they were taught by
:19:26. > :19:32.their fathers and the way their family culture is. You are going
:19:33. > :19:37.counter trend to 200 years of US culture, and it is happening very
:19:38. > :19:45.quickly, and so a lot of working-class American males of all
:19:46. > :19:51.races are feeling that this economy and this new American world order is
:19:52. > :19:57.leaving them behind. I think it is more of a fear of picking the wrong
:19:58. > :20:04.candidate versus... I was pretty torn last time and really didn't
:20:05. > :20:10.know until I got to the ballots. You are going to lunch, fly, and backup.
:20:11. > :20:14.A few miles away in Virginia, this woman runs a gym. She is a classic
:20:15. > :20:19.swing voter. Economically conservative but socially liberal.
:20:20. > :20:23.She has voted both Republican and Democrat in the past. She is
:20:24. > :20:28.struggling with you to vote for this year. I grok the oldest of five
:20:29. > :20:34.children who didn't have a dad around. -- rhubarb. I watched a man
:20:35. > :20:39.who bet --a mother who barely graduated from high school and
:20:40. > :20:44.raised us on her own without hitting a handout. I believe there needs to
:20:45. > :20:49.be buying into the programmes we have. I think everyone can use a
:20:50. > :20:54.helping hand. We need to regulate the economics in this country more.
:20:55. > :21:00.That is probably my draw a bid to Donald Trump. He is a businessman
:21:01. > :21:05.and has the economic background and has made a successful business of
:21:06. > :21:10.it. The foreign policy background draws me more to Hillary Clinton.
:21:11. > :21:13.She has sad at the table and held the positions she's had and made the
:21:14. > :21:19.decisions, whether wrong or right. She has had to make them, so I guess
:21:20. > :21:29.I am torn between being a boost this woman and being a woman. -- being a
:21:30. > :21:30.is this woman. She suspects many other conservative leaning
:21:31. > :21:36.independent voters may decide just to stay home this election. I think
:21:37. > :21:42.it is huge. If women don't show up to vote, it will drastically turn
:21:43. > :21:46.what this election could be. I absolutely believe there will be
:21:47. > :21:49.women who don't turn out to vote. I have had candid conversations with
:21:50. > :21:55.some of my clients. Donald Trump is the deciding factor. They don't feel
:21:56. > :21:59.comfortable voting for him, but they don't feel comfortable stepping
:22:00. > :22:02.outside party lines. It is not necessarily Hillary Clinton. It
:22:03. > :22:05.could have been anyone. But they are just using not to step outside of
:22:06. > :22:14.party lines, so they are not voting at all. -- choosing. Of course, no
:22:15. > :22:18.one knows precisely how many women will vote or which candidate they
:22:19. > :22:22.will vote for. If we did, we would be able to say already who is going
:22:23. > :22:27.to win. What we do know is that women will decide who lives in the
:22:28. > :22:32.White House after Barack Obama. Whether it is America's 45th mall
:22:33. > :22:39.president or its first woman. -- male president.