Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has used the gender gap in various voter assessments to her political advantage. One of Clinton’s main electoral goals is to increase voter support among women by 2016. Fifty-six percent of women in the United States strongly support Clinton, leaving thirty-two percent doubtful of her. “Clinton owes much of her strong early position among possible 2016 candidates to her appeal in women,” states Jeffrey M. Jones, a Gallup analyst in an email to reporters. Clinton is benefiting politically from the high degree of praise and popularity that she is receiving from female voters.

“The gender card alone isn’t enough,” posted Huffington Post reporter Laura Bassett. Clinton’s response to the insult was quite honest: “[The gender card is] played every time Republicans vote against giving women equal pay, deny families access to affordable child care or family leave, refuse to let women make decisions about their health or have access to free contraception.” Clinton emphasized that “Fair pay and fair scheduling, paid family leave and earned sick days, child care are essential to our competitiveness and growth” at a major economic speech in New York.

However, Clinton herself has paid female employees less in her own office. “Hillary Clinton has a habit of contradicting pro-women words with anti-women actions. Not only did Clinton pay women less in her own Senate office, but her foundation gladly accepts money from foreign countries that don’t respect women’s rights,” said Allison Moore, Republican spokeswoman.

Although many sources suggest Clinton is wrongly manipulating the gender card, others defend her argument using the exact same reasoning. Clinton spoke to thousands of supporters at her launch event while repeating her theme of: “When women get ahead, America gets ahead,” advocating for equal pay, paid family leave and raising the minimum wage. Clinton described herself as “a proud lifelong fighter for women’s issues” to USA Today.

Clinton is embracing her role as a female politician by pushing women-friendly policies to, again, increase votes in her favor. What is your view on Clinton’s campaign? What does the gender gap mean for Clinton’s success as a candidate?