Obama Winning With Women Voters

By Elizabeth Heath

Credit his record on social issues and a slowly reviving economy, or blame conservatives’ so-called “War on Women,” but a new poll shows that Barack Obama is winning over a voting bloc crucial to his victory in November – women. The January AP poll of 1,000 registered voters shows that in just two months, Obama’s approval rating with women has jumped 10 points, to 53 percent.

Rejecting the Right?

So what’s behind his surge with women voters? The poll suggests that women voters are more willing than their male counterparts to give Obama credit for a slowly recovering economy. A lower unemployment rate in January, coupled with increased sales of existing homes the same month gave the Obama campaign a shot in the arm, especially in the face of heated rhetoric from his would-be Republican opponents. While Obama’s approval ratings have climbed across the board as the economy sputters back to life, his greatest gain has been among women.

Obama’s surging popularity among women may be due to his positions on social issues or rather, Republicans thrusting social issues back into the political spotlight. In particular, the right’s opposition to mandatory insurance coverage for contraception has turned off some women voters, as has the increasing focus on abortion rights and the passage of restrictive abortion legislation in some states. Current Republican frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have both promised that, if elected, they will work to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Santorum proposes a federal ban on all abortions, and says doctors who perform abortion should be criminally charged. Romney, who was pro-choice earlier in his political career, now supports abortion only in cases of rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is at risk.

Women will win the election

The majority of registered voters are now women, and since 1980, the majority of those women have voted Democrat. This may point to one of two things: women being more liberal-leaning on social issues, or them placing greater importance on social issues than male voters, or both. And analysts say that if Obama wants to win in November, he’s going to need the support of women voters, who wereessential to his victory in 2008, when he won with 56 percent of the female vote, versus 43 percent for John McCain.

And it seems the Obama campaign is well aware of where the votes will come from in November. In fall, 2011, the campaign launched “Women for Obama”, a voter mobilization effort where Michelle Obama (who consistently polls higher than her husband) is a major player. The First Lady will even make appearances (via video link) at “house parties,” which are small friends and neighbors-type fundraising events, and a staple of grassroots organizing.

These small-donor events were the foundation of the Obama/Biden victory in 2008, and the campaign is betting again on those small donors to carry them over the threshold in 2012. To that end, “Women for Obama” is pushing the president’s record on those all-important social issues, including abortion rights, access to contraception, health care and education.

If recent polling is any indication, Obama seems to have a lock on the women’s vote. But it’s still a long way to November.