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Journalism of Courage
One month ago Kim Francisco seemed like the Obama campaign8217;s worst nightmare. White, married and blue-collar, Ms Francisco fits into the group John McCain has tried to woo away from Barack Obama 8212; not least by choosing Sarah Palin as his running-mate. And on September 26th wooed she was, wearing a Hillary Clinton cap and a Sarah Palin button to a McCain event in Michigan. But fears that Ms Francisco and her kind will topple Mr Obama are proving unfounded. Women across the country favour the Democratic nominee, by 54 per cent to Mr McCain8217;s 39 per cent, according to Gallup8217;s most recent poll. Indeed women support Mr Obama by a greater margin than they did John Kerry 51 per cent to George Bush8217;s 48 per cent or Al Gore 54 per cent to 43 per cent.
Women vote in larger numbers than men, and have done so in every election since 1964. Mr McCain8217;s great hope has been to win a greater share of white women. Working-class women who supported Mrs Clinton during the primaries are particularly good targets, as are married suburbanites, older women and small-business owners, says Susan Carroll of the Centre for American Women and Politics. Mrs Palin, the early wisdom went, would help in the endeavour.
The reality has turned out to be more complicated8230; A whopping 60 per cent of women aged 50 and younger have a negative view of Mrs Palin, according to a poll released by the Pew Research Centre on October 21st.
From the October 23 issue of 8216;The Economist8217;
