White women could be swing vote in May 6 Indiana Primary

Indianapolis Star: Female factor: White women could be swing vote May 6
By Mary Beth Schneider
Posted: April 29, 2008

If Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wins Indiana's May 6 Democratic primary, the votes of white women may be a huge reason why. An Indianapolis Star-WTHR (Channel 13) poll shows Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama essentially splitting the votes of all Hoosier women, with about 41 percent backing Obama and 40 percent backing Clinton. But among white women, Clinton is way ahead, winning the support of 48 percent compared with 29 percent for Obama.

To a large extent, women are Clinton's most ardent supporters and have paved her way to victories in other states. That consistent pattern of support is why both campaigns are reaching out to Indiana's women....

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...there is no question that, for some women, the chance to vote for a woman for president for the first time in their lives is a bonus they find exciting....

...

Overall, the poll, conducted April 20-23 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa, found that voters -- men and women -- rated Obama higher on a series of qualities, such as trustworthiness and understanding the problems of "voters like me." The only category in which Clinton ranked higher was experience. But among white women, Clinton scored higher in every category, including as the candidate best able to win the presidency.

Robert Dion, who teaches a course on women and politics at the University of Evansville, said Indiana's conservative image as a state not ready to vote for a woman as chief executive may be just that -- an image -- and not reality. "I think that's an outmoded way of thinking," Dion said. And female voters, he said, can make a difference in the outcome of an election. Nationwide, about 9 million more women than men are registered to vote, he said....

The Star-WTHR poll found significant differences among how women expect to vote based on age, education and where they live. Consider:

Women younger than 55 supported Obama 48 percent to 34 percent, while women 55 and older backed Clinton 50 percent to 28 percent.

Women with at least some college education backed Obama 50 percent to 32 percent, while those with a high school education or less backed Clinton 55 percent to 24 percent.

And women who lived in urban areas backed Obama 54 percent to 31 percent, while rural women preferred Clinton 51 percent to 24 percent.

Susan Carroll, senior scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said the differences found in the poll mirror those of national polls. Older women, she said, may feel they've waited a lifetime to vote for a woman for president and see this as their best chance. And Obama's message of change and hope may not resonate so well with women who have been hearing such rhetoric from candidates since the 1960s, she said....

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080429/NEWS0502/804290374

The double standard come out.

90% African Americans supporting Obama = AOK
48% of women supporting Clinton = voting with their vagina and being clueless women.

Where's my popcorn?

but then I don't spend much time in GDP. I think you have a point, however!

you bring up race and gender as though women are a race.


how many of those women who support clinton are white? i'd say the majority. and they're supporting her because they're white as blacks are being accused of supporting obama because he's black... yes, can we say, hypocrisy?

and i'm pretty sure most of the people supporting mccain are white males. but yet black obama supporters are the only ones 'chastized' because they may be supporting a candidate due to race. it's a long-standing, american White tradition. again, can we say hypocrisy? lol by the way, mr. popcorn... those are rhetorical questions. but you're welcome to use those buttery fingers on your keyboard to answer.

if this was GD: P.

I love how this poll broke it down into urban vs. rural instead of the typical educational benchmarks.

Really, really interesting.

hillary.... only reinforces the stereo type that has been true for women... that the way to the top is on the coat tails of a man.....you get in not on your own merit but through the back door with bill holding it open......its not a good precident to be setting for young women...

of course smart young women have moved beyond this stereo type... that is why they are voting for obama...but older women who i am betting that the majority of them were never involved in the early struggles for womens rights but were anti womens rights and are now misled into thinking this is their chance to make up for their lack of participation in the 60's and 70's..so they are hillary supporters

and just as they were lacking in judgement when they were not supporting womens rights in the early days........they are making an even bigger mistake now supporting hillary ...who really has done nothing more than be a stand by your man kinda woman ...as her way to rise to her own political positions.......thats just a fact.....she has been a professional first lady .....for 25 years.....if the democrats were really serious about running a woman candidate there are plenty of self made women in politics who are highly respected and earned their own way....but they were not considered.....for one reason and one reason only

the clinton political machine...
....is the only reason hillary was crowned as the heir apparent

she does not have what women need to show young women what real women leadership looks like

it does not start with......mrs.