Clinton DID NOT hold an overwhelming advantage among women voters

[powergirl]

The Clinton campaign wants to threaten the Democratic party by making it appear that women will vote in lock step with her wishes. I knew that not to be the case since I'm a woman (who supports Obama - gasp!) and now this article.

"One of the Democratic campaign's great misperceptions has been that Clinton held an overwhelming advantage among women voters. But that isn't the case. As expected, Clinton captured the over-65 vote, and Obama won over younger women. But women in the middle split almost evenly between the two. And while both Senators boasted historic candidacies, Obama's seemed to resonate more deeply, translating into 70%, 80% and even 90% of the black vote in primary contests. No one expected Clinton to sweep 90% of Democratic women voters, but 60% wouldn't have been an unreasonable accomplishment for the first woman to have a serious chance of winning the presidency. Instead, Clinton won just over a majority of women's votes."

"So what does that mean? Clinton and her supporters have charged that sexism is responsible for her loss of the nomination. But it seems more likely that women themselves cost her the nod. The reasons more women haven't voted for Clinton tell us something about the evolution of feminism and what the future may hold for female politicians."

(cut)

"What unites the pessimists--many of whom are older women or women who don't work outside the home--is the persistent belief that women continue to face sexism and barriers in the workplace. Some may have an outmoded sense of the obstacles women face on the job, while others may well have left a workplace that made it hard for them to maintain a work-life balance. In both cases, they're more likely to place value in the symbolic power of electing a woman President."

"Optimist feminists, on the other hand, don't question that a woman can become President or that it will occur in their lifetime. When these women look around, they see themselves making up half of business- and medical-school classes. They are law partners, CEOs and university presidents. And they don't want to rally behind a female candidate simply because she is a woman."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1812050,00.html?imw=Y







:shrug:

[papau]

1. The young have only voted in primaries in the past - older women do vote and are for Hillary

[powergirl]

3. The article focused on women in their 40's

like myself. And those votes were split between the candidates. The writer interviewed the senator from Minnesota - who is a 48 year old woman and she talked about her believing in Obama.

[Arugula Latte]

2. The women I know are about 85 % Obama to 15% Hillary.

[helderheid]

5. That sounds about right to me.

[samdogmom]

4. As a 50+ year old white woman and an Obama supporter...I don't agree with this article!

I think the generalizations are far too broad. I would classify myself as an "optimist" feminist. I don't think I've ever suffered blatant discrimination because I'm a woman. But, I have also dropped out of the workforce to raise my family. I am nearing the end of this period in my life and plan to return to the workforce in the next two years.

I am an Obama supporter because I truly admire and respect him. He is inspirational. Yet, I also think he can accomplish things--I do not think he is just "talk".

I have a lot of female friends in my age group who feel the same. We were truly stymied by all the talk of "women" supporting Hillary. We don't know a single woman who is/was(?) a Hillary supporter. Go figure!

The most encouraging thing for me is to see all of my Republican female friends flocking to Obama. This, in my opinion, is huge and does not bode well for McCain in November.

[hfojvt]

6. that may just be your state

Hillary did get clobbered there and probably not because she was running against a FIB.

I'd like to say it is because Wisconsin is more progressive, but I recently found that they are a swing state barely carried by Democrats. Maybe Wisconsin Democrats are more progressive even if they are not the vast majority of the state.

[EFerrari]

7. I agree. Those two categories are sort of self-serving.

It's interesting to hear that women split pretty evenly, though. :)

[loyalsister]

10. I am "almost" with you

By that, I mean I am a little younger, but fully agree.

But, I can offer a flock of relatives to the evidence. My mother, grandmother, 3 sisters, 3 aunts, 3 female democratic cousins, 1 Republican, and 1 male cousin , and an uncle from my family tribe.

4 of the women come from NV, 1 from AZ, and the rest of that tribe is from MO.

Of the older women. Baby boomers +

Some of the women are pretty conservative and had a history of going puke over "babies." One just thinks he seems "nice."

The traditional Democrats see him as the one who makes them feel less cynical. One even mentioned how she sees him as a good husband, etc.

IOW, they seem to like his nurturing qualities. They trust him.
I also have seen those qualities as valuable. I think that our planet is something we need to finally begin to nurture. And, we need to begin to nurture our relationships with other countries. It is something a good president will know how to do. Like a farmer who knows how to nurture a farm.

The Republican has read his books and trusts him.

The main thing they seemed to be saying that attracted them is trust. They trust him more than the other candidates.

The younger Gen x and y. I am 38 an older gen x. I heard more concerns about about policy. And slightly more skepticism.

There was one woman who was still supporting Hillary. She simply wanted a woman president. I think she has a misunderstanding of feminism and bought the sexism line.

The bottom line is you are correct. The female "tribe" does not belong to Hillary. Even in red states there are women who support our candidate! We are going to win and women are going to play a big role.

[DemocracyInaction]

8. Us Old Broads Actually Can Think

As our choices narrowed down I orginally thought the dream team (because of experience) would be Clinton with Obama as VP where he would serve an internship and after Clinton's 8 years, have 8 more of him. THEN, came South Carolina. Bill stunned me...but I brushed it away as "there goes stupid Bill again". Then she ran with it. That, I felt, said to the Black community that they played them for suckers to get where they were going...BUT more importantly I went "Oh, Oh...how the hell do we win without the Black community not just in this race but in all races". It was then that I knew that the Clinton's had to go. You can bet that a lot of my fellow "older Americans" who fought during the 60's and 70's for so much in race relations and in women's issues, etc. saw the same thing. I think you have a certain percentage of these women supporters of Hillary who are racists (as they happily told exist pollsters that "race mattered"). It's going to be interesting if they follow her in her support of Obama because if they don't, that means they have turned on her, also.

[izzybeans]

9. The local Obama campaign office where my mother lives is staffed entirely

by women over the age of 40 and she estimates that nearly 80% of their volunteers are women of all ages. But shhhh. The secret is that they all hate women. ;)

This is in Southern Indiana.

Here in Chicago its more of an even mix.