US women voters head to Obama after Clinton departure: poll

[Indiana_Dem]

Source: Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - De facto Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has rapidly picked up support from women voters in the wake of Hillary Clinton's withdrawal from the campaign, according to a Gallup poll out on Wednesday.

Between the eve of the final primaries on June 3 and Monday, Obama's support among all women in polling matchups with Republican rival John McCain has jumped to give him a 13-point margin in this voter group.

According to Gallup, in its surveys covering June 5-9, Obama was supported by 51 percent of women voters compared to 38 percent for McCain.

A week earlier, Obama topped McCain with just a 48-43 percent spread.

Gallup pointed out that Obama's support among women voters is now close to the steady 52 percent level Clinton had in earlier theoretical matchups with McCain, whom she led in this group by 12 points.

It said that the shift of older and married women to Obama appeared to explain his surge.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080612/ts_alt_afp/usvotewomen

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I hate to say it, but didn't we say this would be the result

A few will still stay home or vote McCain, or Barr, happens every cycle....

[tavalon]

6. Actually, though,

I think some portion of it has to do with the way Senator Clinton conceded. She could have done it half assed and felt sorry for herself in front of her supporters and made this a much harder transition. She was firm and resolute and asked her supporters to back Obama fully. It made the transition much easier than it might have been. Here concession speech was actually one of her finest moments on the campaign trail, a trail that became clogged with filth and degradation. That she was able to stand up from that cesspool that was the longest, ugliest primary I've ever witnessed and behave so graciously was utterly amazing and I had come to despise her so I was already predisposed to see anything she did in the poorest of lights and yet, she shown brightly and with great dignity in that moment, imo. I think she made this infinitely easier than it might have been.

[aquart]

9. "Predisposed."

That's a synonym for "prejudiced," isn't it? How nice of you to forgive the "filth and degradation."

[WildEyedLiberal]

11. Yeah, tavalon's point is that Hillary's speech was so good even a Hillary-hater could like it

I can't stand Hillary either and I thought it was a nice speech, which was tavalon's point. I don't know why you insist on being shocked that there are people who really, really don't care for Hillary Clinton, or why you insist on ignoring their sincere praise of her gracious speech so that you can bluster with faux outrage over their opinion that her campaign was anything but classy up until her concession.

[tavalon]

13. I started in the nineties really adoring her

I didn't like her nearly as well by the time she had a few years in the Senate under her belt but I didn't really begin to hate her until the ugly side came up at the last few months of her campaign. Yes, I was pointing out that even though I rabidly disliked her at the end, I was very pleasantly surprised by the nobility of her concession speech.

You hit that nail on the head.

[1Hippiechick]

34. "or why you insist on ignoring their sincere praise of her gracious

speech."

:sarcasm:
:rofl:

[Zhade]

29. Hard not to be predisposed, considering how often she lied to our faces.

I'll give her credit for doing the right thing by finally accepting her loss and encouraging people to support Obama.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. She wanted a future in politics, she did EXACTLY what a candidate has to do

If she didn't want a future, then she could have done a half assed job, sealing her fate in the party.

Sorry if I am way too cynical, but this is POLITICAL reality

[MaraJade]

24. Garbage!

Hillary will continue to have her supporters as she does her job in the Senate
and I pray that she will embody the "checks and balances" that the Constitution
implies the Senate should have. I hope that she sticks to her guns in the Senate
and fights for us all from that vantage point.

[MaraJade]

23. Amen!

Hillary took the high road, and that is to her credit, no matter what slurs and calumny Obama supporters
continue to say about her! She was always a smart and gracious stateswoman, and her speech and endorsement
of Obama proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. She told her people that Obama was the lesser of two evils
and that getting the repukes out was job number one, and they believed that because she said it. The only
reason that these people flocked to Obama was because of Hillary. No other reason at all.

These are NOT Obama people. They never were and they aren't now. They will be holding their noses as
they vote this fall, and God forgive Obama if he forgets that!!

Obama must NEVER believe that he has any sort of mandate. If he falls into that trap, forgets the
so-called "bitter" working class and forgets the women, especially older ones, he will pay for
it in spades!

[Zhade]

30. The high road, except for all those times she got caught lying on tape.

You'd do well to be careful with your disparagement of Obama.

[roseBudd]

38. First of all bitter is about one issue voters, god, gays, guns are the 1 issue GOP voting whites

Pretending to not understand that comment even after it is no longer useful to the HRC feigned indignation is disengenuous.

When the 2nd Amendment is your issue you don't vote for Democrats anyway.

When you believe that religion is the most important issue you have not been voting for Democrats.

Bill Clinton got 39% of the white male vote and owes his presidency to a 3rd party candidate named Perot.

[primavera]

17. A Hillary supporter friend just told me she'll be voting for McCain

Hopefully she's just feeling depressed at the moment. Thankfully, I've still got some time to pull her back from the Dark Side before the election.

[Monk06]

2. The "women won't vote for BO" is a Freeper/Limbaugh meme. I never believed it.

[MaraJade]

25. Some WILL vote for McCain. . .

This is NOT a Limbaugh meme, and Obama people who believe that believe it at their
absolute peril. Now is NOT the time for arrogance, but for reaching out to those
who will drift to McCain and finding out why.

Obama will have to kiss some asses. Period. That's the way it is.

[Zhade]

31. Will YOU be voting for him?

NT!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

36. Why, pray tell

Should I 'reach out to' or kiss the ass of, any woman who is fool enough to vote for John McCain (whose issues with women we should all be well aware of by now) to get revenge because Hillary lost? That woman can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. I'm done coddling the stupid. Done. This train is moving forward and you either get on it or be left behind.

[roseBudd]

39. Not to mention those McCain revenge voters are diluted by 50 states...

and they are not 18 million

[Zhade]

41. Indeed. FUCK THEM.

NT!

[Indiana_Dem]

3. All I can say is that I'm thoroughly encouraged by this news! nt

[Imagevision]

4. Even Barbara Streisand came over to Obama's side in less then 5 days...

[MaraJade]

19. Duh!!!!!!

Is this surprising since there IS NO OTHER CHOICE NOW? People who want the
repukes out have NO OTHER CHOICE than Obama (except staying home).

Why are people celebrating this? People HAVE NO CHOICE except Obama. I hope
that this is not viewed as a mandate, because it isn't.

[graegoyle]

5. These demographic break-downs have been frustrating:

(Ignore all the real and manufactured outrage of sexism and racism--which was significant, but not important enough regarding this point.)

While there are probably a remarkable number of women Republicans who might have been planning on voting for Clinton, why is it a surprise that women who are Democrats are planning to vote for the Democratic nominee? Why is it a surprise that blacks are voting in large numbers for Obama? Why would it have been remarkable that those blacks who are Democrats would support Clinton if she became the nominee? Why are all these demographic break-downs made to be so important when discussing voting blocks within the party when it is an analysis of who they might prefer to see on the ballot but could be expected (though should not be taken for granted) to support the eventual nominee?

All rhetorical questions: All this over-analysis and segregating of people inside the party is frustrating and only served to break party unity--a desire of Republicans and corporations.

The Republican party is the party of homogeneity.

Democrats are a party of diversity and differing opinions but it is supposed to be full of people who, ultimately, support each other and should strive to stay that way. All this intra-party sniping and warfare is frustrating.

[Zachstar]

7. More good news.

McCain shits his pants once again!

[happygoluckytoyou]

8. What Did MCCAIN Do Wrong ? ? ?

I guess this is what happens when you divorce your first wife because she loses 4 inches of height due to an operation, get plump, and get older----
trade her in for a new version who is wealthy and has access to all the beer you can drink...

MUST HAVE SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME

Why would ANY woman ever think of voting for John "THE BUSH REPUBLICAN" McCain

[lanlady]

10. how could anyone seriously believe otherwise?

Hillary supporters going for McCain? The man hasn't ever tried to reach out to female voters. Can't believe the media pedaled that crap for even one second.

[MaraJade]

20. Obama didn't go for the women either, especially older women. . .

But they have gone for him out of sheer hope and the lack of an alternative.

HE'D BETTER NOT LET US DOWN OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!

[A Brand New World]

12. I talked to an Ohio middle-aged white working class Catholic woman (I think I've covered the

demographics). She voted for Hillary and has no problem voting for Obama in Nov. She was disappointed in Hillary's loss but has no hesitation in fully supporting Obama.

[roseBudd]

27. I noticed that the HRC supporters on blogs who are stating they will never vote for Obama or are

stating they are going to vote for McCain (my research involved reading 3 days of posts that coincided with HRC's suspension speech & the PUMA blog) had certain characteristics.

An obsession with Hillary that is reminiscent of a fan club. Their goal is to defeat Obama so they can get a Hillary 2012, rather than a Hillary 2016.

Though they are posting on a candidates blog, they often express that they are not that good with computers.

A prior apolitical history. There are no mentions of previous elections. While they may have voted Democratic in the past they are not activists.

They consistently spout antiObama talking points. They rationalize their support for McCain, not as a means to a Hillary 2012 candidacy, but as a concerned citizen protecting America from an incompetent inexperienced POTUS or a Chicago machine based corrupt POTUS.

They consistently underplay the reality of a McCain POTUS by claimina Dem congress will prevent McCain from doing things the Democratic party is against, like SCOTUS.

They resent Obama's appeal and compare him to Dumbya & Hitler or the Pied Piper.

[Zhade]

32. clinton 2016? That's even more ludicrous wishful thinking on their part!

It was now or (most likely) never.

[1Hippiechick]

35. "Their goal is to defeat Obama so they can get a Hillary 2012, rather than a Hillary 2016" Party?.

[roseBudd]

37. I believe they are so invested in HRC that 4 years is all they can wait ...

they must know that if Obama is POTUS, HRC in 2012 is an impossibility, hence the McCain strategy.

[FatDave]

14. Hmm, it's almost as if...

...voting patterns in a party's primaries have no bearing whatsoever on the voting patterns of the general election. Who ever would of thought? Oh yeah. Everybody who bothered to.

[MaraJade]

21. When people have no other choice. . .

what else do you expect. Believe me, these women were NEVER for Obama. They now
have no choice and they are choosing the lesser of two evils. That's all it is.

I hope that Obama remembers that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! If
women's issues get pushed to the back burner, he will be very, very sorry.

[roseBudd]

40. But HRC said so even though over 200K Rs switched parties to vote in D primary...

right after Rush told them to.

[Crowman1979]

15. Any feminist who votes for McCain...

...might as well quit their job, marry a fundie mormon, stay in the kitchen, clean the house and pop out a dozen kids for tha LAWD!

[MaraJade]

22. And wear a

"Bros instead of Hos" T-shirt as well!

[MaraJade]

18. Out of sheer fear of the possible repeal of Roe V. Wade. . .

They are holding their noses and going for Obama. After all, they now have no choice at all.

Obama had better be absolutely perfect. Perfect in everything he does, or watch out for
the backlash!

[roseBudd]

26. Thank God. After seeing 3 days of Hillary's official blog comments & PUMA comments...

I came away convinced that the very vocal minority of former HRC supporters who are unwilling to let go are agitating for a McCain victory simply because it gets Hillary another bite at the apple in 2012 rather than 2016.

On PUMA one poster lamented that theirside has no Hitler of their own.

I can’t help but think about this David and Goliath comparison. Obama is sending out his thousands of people to 17 states to campaign or whatever. We are making flyers and selling lemonade or kool aid.. It seems that he is using vast amounts of resources and the internet (just like he did during the primaries against Hillary). He uses these stadiums as venues and Hillary the little coffee shops and town halls… Sure some of the town halls worked. But I am so impatient and so worried that these small passionate groups of us are too small and would be too late (again) to do anything besides getting a mention here and there in the media.

I would like to know if someone could list out the goals of what these blogs are about - bullet points… and have people vote on it so we know the more the vote, the more important these issues are for us… Otherwise we are all growling pumas.. just growling and swiping our fangled paws… How can we get our teeth on the jugulars ? Pardon the imagery. Kool aid stand is a really cute idea and may get some attention but we are against a modern Hitler / Piped Piper who is amassing the population as each day wears on.

I am so worried, that is the first and last thing I think about each day and I used to think about my business before the primaries…

I don’t mean to be a wet blanket but it seems so much blogging, so much passion but so contained . We have no Hitler of our own.

[Zhade]

33. WTF is a "fangled paw"? These people don't even know how to write coherently!

Idiots.

[Zhade]

28. See? A few dozen petulant misguided whiners were never going to stop Obama's momentum.

Gobama!

[MadinMo]

42. This 54 year old white lower middle class married woman supports Obama

wholeheartedly and didn't have to "come over" from Hillary.

[Scout]

43. i'll hold my nose and vote for Obama n/t