Women Voters Will Determine the Next President
If there is one thing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on, it's that women voters will determine who will be the next president.
Rep. Kay Granger, a Republican from Texas, and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake talked to Morning Edition's Lynn Neary today about the women's vote, and it's a bit surprising how much they agree on.
Both told Neary that across the board, women care about the economy. They also comprise 80 percent of all "health care" voters. And they see job security - coming back to work after having children, for instance - as a major issue.
For women voters, stage of life is more important than age. Their different concerns are more based on what's happening in their lives: A 32-year-old single woman has different concerns than a 32-year-old mother of three or than a 32-year-old woman with children and ailing parents.
Lake said the one big difference between Democratic women and Republican women has been the war in Iraq. Democratic women have been opposed to the war for some time and were the first in the party to voice disapproval.
But there are also class and ethnic differences in Democratic women themselves that are reflected in their political choices. College-educated women favor Barack Obama. Women over 50 are much more aware of the historic nature of Hillary Clinton's challenge for the Oval Office because they are more aware of the glass ceiling than younger women.
Latino and Anglo women tend to favor Clinton, while African-American women support Obama.
And here is something else Granger and Lake agree on - women will stay undecided about their vote longer than men. And they won't base it on party line, but much more on the likability factor.
12:22 PM ET | 01-29-2008 | permalink
