Now that the primary race has settled down a bit, polls are starting to show that Obama's current early lead is primarily due to women. A recent Gallup polls show that Obama trails McCain by 5 points among men, but leads him by 10 points among women. Other polls show similar trends. Rasmussen says that the two are “essentially tied among men,” but Obama leads by 12 points among women. USA today shows that Obama's lead with women is 14 points, but he is behind 3 points with men. Even Newsweek, which found that Obama leads with both genders shows that his lead is three times as great among women (21 points).
All of the polls can be found here: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/
It is no wonder both candidates are courting women voters, but how can we get Obama's numbers up with men? Are there just more male republicans than male democrats? If so why?
8 Comments
the gender gap has been significant for at least 25 years
I’m sure there are a lot of reasons for it, and I have no clue what Obama should do to reduce it.
I am mainly hoping that McCain’s lackluster campaign will not be able to mobilize as much of the Republican base as W did in 2000 and 2004.
If I were Obama, I would put tons of resources into voter registration efforts. I’ve read that money spent registering new voters in groups likely to support Democrats goes further than money spent trying to persuade swing voters.
desmoinesdem Wed 25 Jun 10:47 PM
that *is* a good idea
That plays well to Senator Obama’s many strengths. He’s certainly proven that he can get new people involved.
Do the numbers represent a rise in the number of women voters, or do they indicate a decrease in the number of men supporting Senator Obama?
I hope it’s the former.
johnnyschad Thu 26 Jun 6:47 PM
I have heard that too.
But you also need to get them out on election day too.
Absentee ballots are a big plus too.
I vote Democrat and would never vote Republican, I do, however, believe that the primary has helped Obama with male voters as many men where frightened into the Obama camp with the ultra feminist rhetoric of some Clinton supporters.
I know that’s not going to win me any points with the pro-Clinton crowd but its true, when a man hears women who want to vote for Clinton just because she is a woman, that is a big turn off.
Solidifying the base, challenging in every 50 states and have substantially better net roots than the McCain camp, should be enough. All signs point to a landslide Obama victory, but dont let that get you complacent: )
secondtonone Thu 26 Jun 4:11 PM
Is that why you voted for Obama?
Because of the feminists? Honestly though I can understand your irritation at someone who votes just because of gender. I felt the same way when I saw the “Iron my shirts, but don’t run my country” signs some of the Obama supporters carried. I can promise you that seeing that made me way more of a radical feminist than I ever have been before (just ask my male co-workers who are pretty darn sick of me already).
I posted the original diary because I wanted to point out that women are still important in this election. In fact, according to the polls, without women Obama would be losing. I also want to note that am angry at some men (not all of course but some) because I think that they voted for Obama in the primary just to knock out Clinton, but are now jumping ship and supporting McCain.
lorih Thu 26 Jun 6:48 PM
Yeah
But there are even more Clinton supporters that believe she lost because she’s a woman and are jumping ship to McCain (who is more anti-women than any candidate in the last 60 years) because there person didnt win.
I voted for Obama because he was against the war from the start. I dont want another democrat who will be pushed around by Republicans. Clinton really showed that she cared more about her own political future than she did about American troops and that is the part that really hits home.
Otherwise, she was a close second. I believe she is more than capable, she has a strong general election map, and if she won, Obama, Edwards and everyone else would have got behind her instead of the situation that is going on now.
She also didnt count Iowa, Washington and the other two caucus states in her final vote count, counted Michigan Where no one was on the ballot) and than counted Florida (where no one voted). To come up with her “popular vote total” that was still behind Obama’s.
In conclusion: She alienated the states that voted in Obama’s favor, alienated men and alienated African Americans by her and her staffers rhetoric.
secondtonone Thu 26 Jun 9:20 PM
name three
Seriously, name three Clinton supporters who are jumping ship to McCain.
I have spoken with a lot of Clinton supporters who believe she lost in part because of sexism, but I don’t know any who are supporting McCain. I think the media are exaggerating this phenomenon, and I think the overwhelming majority of Clinton supporters will end up voting for Obama, even if they don’t like him much.
By the way, given Obama’s cautious behavior on FISA, Iraq War funding bills and many other issues, there is no doubt in my mind that if he had been in the U.S. Senate in 2002 (rather than running for the Illinois Senate in a Democratic district), he would have voted for the Iraq War resolution, just like Clinton.
desmoinesdem Thu 26 Jun 9:30 PM
Clinton and Obama
I agree that the press is magnifying the hard feelings, probably because the hard fought primary was so profitable for them and they aren’t ready to let it go. A few Hillary supporters (according to the press) are still saying that they will vote McCain–but they will decrease as time goes on.
Obama and Clinton are doing their best to unify the party and they are asking their surigates to do the same. Both Barack and Michelle Obama donated $2300 to Clinton to help her pay off her campaign debt. I really appreciated that, and I think a lot of Hillary supporters will feel the same. In exchange of course, she has gone to her top fundraisers (who have maxed out on her) to donate to his campaign.
It may take awhile for party unity to filter down the ranks, but I believe it will happen.
lorih Fri 27 Jun 1:25 PM
hard feelings
I think there would be just as many hard feeling among Obama supporters if it had gone the other way. Edwards supporters too, but they have had a few more months to adjust to him not getting the nomination.
I think Hillary voted in favor of the war because she believed the intelligence reports that were reported at the time. I know that people can say a lot of things about Hillary…some deserved and some not deserved, but one thing that I do know is that Hillary Clinton doesn’t get “pushed around” by anyone.
lorih Fri 27 Jun 1:52 PM