The manosphere and bro culture surrounding President-elect Donald Trump and his significant gains with male voters, particularly Latino males, may look very different from the iconic picture of Dads Caucus founder Rep. Jimmy Gomez carrying his infant in a carrier to the House floor last year.
However, California Democrat Gomez believes that his and his fellow DadsCaucus members’ focus is exactly what Americans, particularly working-class men, want to see.
According to Gomez, people are beginning to see how beneficial it is for the Dads Caucus to include men who are currently fathering children in policy talks.
The caucus, which is currently composed of 39 Democratic members but is open to Republicans, also supports family-friendly measures including the child tax credit, affordable child care, and family leave.
“Because we witnessed it affect our own families, we saw how inflation and the increase in grocery prices were harming families,” he said. My son is now two years old, and his food has become much more expensive over the past few years. I have also watched my own savings decrease as the cost of food continues to rise. You can’t create enough, no matter what.
According to Gomez, the members of the caucus offer a sort of “sample and access” to American families around the nation.
In terms of color, ethnicity, and income, Gomez’s California district is varied. It encompasses Koreatown, Boyle Heights, which is primarily Latino, and downtown Los Angeles. This month, Gomez defeated progressive immigration attorney David Kim, a fellow Democrat, to win reelection.
This presidential election, Trump’s share of Latino voters increased, and the change was particularly pronounced among men. 55% of Latino men voted for Trump, according to exit polls conducted by NBC News in ten important states.
However, even in California, a consistently blue state, Gomez claimed to have witnessed the rightward shift of Latino voters for more than ten years. According to polls taken during the most recent election cycle, Latinos and other Americans were deeply concerned about the state of the economy.
According to the results of this election, working people had a very bad economy. According to Gomez, no matter how hard you work, you’re slipping behind since costs keep rising.
He made a connection to his childhood. Even if it meant that someone had to sleep in the garage, his parents were able to own their own home despite working four or five jobs a week to make ends meet.
However, according to Gomez, housing and childcare expenses alone can now account for as much as 60% of an individual’s pre-tax salary, leaving very little money left over. Saving money isn’t really enough to start a small business, purchase a house, or do anything else. I think more needs to be done to discuss these concerns, particularly housing and childcare. How are we going to assist them?
According to Gomez, males are under pressure to support their families, and when they are unable to do so, they are more receptive to what others have to say. He claimed that his father only asked him, “Do you have a job?” after his sister eloped and returned with her husband.
Regarding the post-election discussions and controversy around the question of whether misogyny contributed to Trump’s popularity among male voters, particularly Latino men “Learn, don’t blame,” Gomez urged. Gain knowledge from their experiences. Take a lesson from their suffering. Part of that, is there? It’s there, of course, but does it really explain why? It doesn’t, in my opinion. And you will never alter your governance style if you solely attribute it to that.
He maintained that, as he has observed in California, the trend toward Republican candidates has been gradual and that this has also been the case for Democratic male voters.
The Dads Caucus is currently a bicameral caucus, with 39 members in the House and three elected to the U.S. Senate (Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.). According to Gomez, one Republican expressed interest in joining prior to the elections, but all of the members are Democrats. We’re open to Republicans, so I’ll speak with him again to see if he’s still interested in joining,” Gomez stated.
He said the caucus is practical and backed the House GOP plan earlier this year that increased the child tax credit.
Although it wasn’t what we Democrats would have drafted, they were successful in their negotiations with the Senate Democrats to expand the child tax credit. We backed it because we were aware that even putting money in workers’ pockets immediately would be beneficial, Gomez added.
The Dads Caucus is working in more locations now. According to Gomez, they recently talked about data showing that young men are more negatively impacted by social media than young women are because young ladies avoid it in a different way than young men do. “We were all thinking they’re fine,” he added, referring to young males, “so it kind of stuck with a lot of us.” And what we observe is a great deal of the isolation and alienation that results from prolonged usage of social media, which they never stop.
According to Gomez, the caucus is searching for solutions to address this through laws or initiatives designed especially to support young males.
For Gomez, the caucus is about spearheading the debate and advocating for the bills, not merely co-sponsoring legislation.
Gomez stated that he is working on a bipartisan bill to convert commercial and real estate buildings for residential use. “The difficult part of politics is first, you have to get Republicans and Democrats to agree that there is a problem, or see the problem the same way, and then two, you have to get legislation that both sides agree on,” he said. “I think that there are emerging consensus on a bunch of issues.” One of them is housing.
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