Memo: Barack Obama is not conceding the women's vote to Hillary Clinton.

[flpoljunkie]

From the Atlantic online Marc Ambinder...

Barack Obama's women's outreach coordinator has written a memo suggesting that Obama's campaign won't concede the women's vote to Hillary Clinton. This, on the day that Clinton's campaign holds a major fundraiser in Washington. This, on the week the Clinton campaign is dedicating to voting women.

The relevant portions:

While the Clinton Campaign likes to portray the competition for the support of women through the lens of meaningless national poll numbers, the true story is on the ground in the early and February 5 states. The latest Des Moines Register poll showed 2 out of every 3 women are not supporting Senator Clinton. In the state where the public knows the candidates best, Iowa, the gender gap being touted by the Clinton campaign is essentially non-existent.

This past Saturday, over 150 women in Iowa traveled to Des Moines for a 6 hr grassroots organizing training. After the training the women have returned home to their counties, fired up and ready to go. These women will serve as Precinct Captains and Women for Obama leaders in their home county.

As the son of a single mother whose grandmother was the family’s primary breadwinner, Barack lived through the struggles that everyday women face. This experience moved him to develop a lifelong history of standing up for women, from his days as a community organizer and continuing through his career in public office. As a young community organizer in Chicago, Barack worked closely with mothers in public housing to force city government to remove asbestos from their homes. As a member of the Illinois legislature in the 1990s, Barack saw how politicians in Washington put politics over principle, crafting a federal welfare reform law that shortchanged the need for more childcare for working mothers. Barack led a successful fight to ensure that the state’s version of welfare reform included a six-fold increase in childcare funding. He also passed one of the nation’s most comprehensive domestic violence laws. Throughout his career, Barack has been a leader on reproductive justice and women’s health issues – receiving a 100% Planned Parenthood pro-choice voting record and recently winning their straw poll for his appearance at a July Planned Parenthood event. Last year, Barack had the courage to stand up while others ducked a critical battle over a woman’s right to choose. He was the only U.S. Senator to raise funds for a critical initiative to reverse the South Dakota law that effectively banned abortion rights.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/obama_hearts_women_too.php

[Perry Logan]

1. Was Obama cackling when he said this?

[DURHAM D]

2. Who is Obama's women's outreach coordinator?

I can find it. Is it a guy?

[Cameron27]

3. So 1 out of 3 women are voting for Clinton in Iowa

or is that nationwide? How many out of three are voting for Obama?

[rinsd]

4. The logic that candidate A has 40% therefore 60% are against is DUMB.

So what does that mean? 4 out 5 IA women are against Obama?

"In the state where the public knows the candidates best, Iowa, the gender gap being touted by the Clinton campaign is essentially non-existent."

More truthiness from the Obama campaign. While the gender gap is less than in national polls she still beats Obama by 13 among women and is only down 4pts to Obama among men (source: Des Mones Register poll - http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071007/NEWS09/71005051/-1/iowapoll07)

Also backed up by data from Rasmussen - Clinton has a substantial lead among women, attracting 39% of the female vote. She has a much smaller advantage among men, leading Edwards just 28% to 24%.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/democratic_iowa_caucus

"Last year, Barack had the courage to stand up while others ducked a critical battle over a woman’s right to choose."

Can someone explain this :shrug: