US women voters head to Obama after Clinton departure: poll Agence France-Presse

Published: Sunday June 15, 2008



|

Print This Email This WASHINGTON  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. Married women backed McCain 52-40 percent in the previous poll, and are now evenly split 45-45 percent over the two. Meanwhile unmarried women liked Obama by 57-32 percent and 57-31 percent in the earlier May 27-June 2 poll and the most recent poll, respectively. "Now that Clinton is no longer campaigning and the focus of voters' decision-making is a choice between Obama and McCain, female voters may be taking a second look at Obama," Gallup said. "Indeed, his current 13-point advantage over McCain is essentially the same advantage that Clinton held over McCain throughout her active candidacy." Among male voters Obama also picked up ground on McCain. McCain led his Democratic rival in the earlier poll by six points, 49-43 percent. In the newest poll, McCain maintained only a two-point spread, 47-45 percent. The Gallup poll was conducted between May 27 and June 2 among 5,270 voters and has a two-point margin of error. A Rasmussen Institute poll carried out June 7-9 shows that Obama is ahead of McCain by seven points, 50 percent against 43 percent. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll to appear Thursday in the newspaper confirms the tendency in Obama's favor. Forty-seven percent of those polled plan to vote for Obama against 41 percent that support McCain, a broader margin for Obama when compared to the same poll in April (46-43 percent). According to the poll, 54 percent of those surveyed believed "it is important to look for a person who will bring greater changes to the current policies even if he is less experienced and tested," against 42 percent that supported a "more experienced and tested person even if he brings fewer changes to the current policies." And 59 percent said they believed it was "time to have a president who will focus on progress and help move America forward," against 37 percent who said it was "time to have a president who will focus on protecting what has made America great." The WSJ/NBC poll was conducted June 6-9 among 1,000 voters, and has a 3.1 point margin of error.