Can the President woo back his women voters? Poll shows collapse in female support for Obama as candidates head into make-or-break second TV debate
By TOBY HARNDEN
Obama's biggest task tonight in the second presidential debate will be
to woo back ‘waitress moms’ so crucial to his re-election, after a poll
showed Mitt Romney has stole their votes in the first showdown and they
are now neck and neck among women voters.
According to a Gallup/USA Today poll of 12 swing states, Romney leads
Obama by 12 points among men. But it is his surge among women voters to
within one point of Obama that has given him a four-point overall lead
that sets him on course to win the White House on November 6th.
The poll, released on the eve of the second presidential debate in
Hampstead, New York, marks an apparent end to months of double-digit
Obama leads over Romney among women and has plunged Democrats into panic
mode.
Debate
prep: President Obama spent the weekend in Williamsburg, Virginia
preparing for the debate while Romney based his debate preparations at a
Marriott in Boston, Massachusetts
New format: Unlike the first debate, the second meeting will be in a
'town hall' format in which undecided voters will pose questions to the
candidates
Unlike the first debate, the second meeting will be in a ‘town hall’
format in which undecided ordinary voters – probably about a dozen –
will pose questions. At least half of them are likely to be women. In
addition, the debate will be moderated by a woman - CNN’s Candy Crowley.
Democrats traditionally enjoy a marked advantage among women. Bill
Clinton’s 1996 re-election was said to have been based on winning over
middle class, aspirational so-called 'soccer moms'. But Obama’s
popularity among females has plummeted after Romney’s commanding debate
performance in Denver nearly two weeks ago.
Vice-President Joe Biden's bullying display over Romney's running mate Paul Ryan also left many women voters feeling alienated. Read more>>
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