White Boomer Women Dropping Support for Obama

Posted by Matt Stoller, Open Left at 8:22 AM on May 30, 2008.

Obama's numbers have come down, but Josh Orton is missing the picture.  It's women, specifically, white women, who are unhappy and switching over to, mostly, undecided.

Recent declines in Obama's image have been pronounced among whites - especially white women. Currently, just 43% of white women express a positive opinion of Obama, down from 56% in late February.

This is confirmation of what Gallup noted earlier.

The only major demographic group still supporting Clinton to the tune of 51% or more is women aged 50 and older. This group's preferences have changed little during May, at the same time that Clinton's support among younger men (those 18 to 49) has declined by nearly 10 points.

 

And not only is it white women, according to Pew, it's white women between the ages of 30-64, with a specific heavy loss among women between the ages of 50-64.  In other words, this is Clinton's bread and butter.

The survey finds that as many 39% of Clinton's female supporters believe that her gender has hurt her candidacy. In turn, favorable opinions of Obama have tumbled among women who support Clinton - from 58% in March to 43% currently. By contrast, there has been a slight increase in positive views of Obama over this period among men who support Clinton (from 42% in March to 47% currently).

Women, in particular boomer women, are really really mad.  Digby says 'don't put baby (boomer) in the corner', and she's right.  Women of working age who grew up on choice and first wave feminism and strong glass ceilings and saw, up close, sexual harrassment and the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991, don't like a new form of politics that comes complete with a besmirching of one of their icons.  I'm seeing women attacked for sexism all over the country, and it is making white boomer women extremely angry.  And it's showing up in the numbers.

And here's a video that drives home the point:

Tagged as: women, clinton, obama, polling, boomers, demographics