-- In a Dramatic Reversal Since Late July, McCain/Palin Now Virtually
Tied With Obama/Biden on Who Best Understands Women -
-- Governor Sarah Palin Pick: Solidifying Factor for Republican Women,
Compelling to 55-64 Year-Olds and Married Moms, but Others Divided --
-- Nearly Three-Quarters of Clinton Supporters Have Gone Home to Obama,
but Still 23% Said They'll Vote for McCain --
-- Majority of Women Believe Senator Clinton and Governor Palin Have
Been Treated Fairly in the Media Coverage of the Race, but Two-Fifths Say
Sexism Persists and Is Worse for Palin --
NEW YORK, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its nonpartisan Every
Woman Counts campaign to engage women in the political process, Lifetime
Networks today announced the results of a national poll of women likely
voters conducted by Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway of WomanTrend and
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners.
According to the survey, neither Barack Obama/Joe Biden nor John
McCain/Sarah Palin has secured a clear majority of women, the voting bloc
that has decided every presidential election since 1968, and is poised to
pick the next Oval Office holder. Obama/Biden garnered 47% to
McCain/Palin's 45%. With less than two months to go until Election Day, 7%
of women are firmly undecided.
Women are Split Between the Two Tickets on Key Presidential Attributes:
-- Readiness to Lead the Country: McCain/Palin edged out Obama/Biden by
four percentage points, 47% to 43%. McCain/Palin won this measure among
White women by 19 points, while Obama/Biden won Blacks by an 81 point
margin.
-- Will Help Middle Class the Most: Obama/Biden led McCain/Palin 57% to
32%. The margin was greatest among 18-34 year-olds (75% to 20%), while
35-44 year-olds favored the Democratic ticket by only two statistically
insignificant points (47% to 45%). White women favored Obama/Biden by
ten points.
-- Will Bring About Change the Country Needs: Obama/Biden were considered
the change agents 51% to 37% over McCain/Palin. However, White women,
married women and Independents gave McCain/Palin the edge.
-- Will Reform the Way Washington Does Business: Obama/Biden had a seven
point edge over McCain/Palin, 47% to 40%.
-- How Best to Handle Iraq: By identical 14-point margins, each of the
major presidential tickets won the message wars on their positions on
Iraq. In this split-sampled question, McCain/Palin was deemed best to
"win" the war (50%-36%), while Obama/Biden was judged most
equipped to "end" it (51%-37%).
-- Understanding Women and What is Most Important to Them: In
Lifetime's late July Every Woman Counts poll, Barack Obama handily
beat John McCain 52% to 18% with 11% volunteering "neither" to
this question. Just six weeks later, and with the addition of Sarah
Palin to the Republican ticket, McCain/Palin has dramatically reversed
those fortunes, now in a virtual tie with Obama/Biden, 44%-42%.
Women Respond to the Vice Presidential Picks:
-- Senator Biden selection a net positive, but makes little difference to
women's voting decisions: Seventeen percent said the selection of
Biden made them more likely to vote for Obama, while 9% said it made
them less likely and roughly three-quarters (74%) said it made no
difference to their decision.
-- McCain's choice of Governor Sarah Palin elicits a more polarized
reaction: Twenty-eight percent said they were more likely to support
McCain with Palin on the ticket and 24% said they are less likely, with
47% claiming it made no difference. Independent women were similarly
divided about Palin on the ticket, with 23% much more likely and 19%
much less likely to support McCain given his choice. Married moms and
women ages 55-64 said the Palin pick brought them closer to a vote for
McCain.
-- Where Senator Clinton Primary Supporters Are Leaning: A majority of
Senator Clinton primary supporters (57%) were upset that Obama did not
pick her as his running mate, but most are not holding it against him.
Nearly four in ten (38%) said that while they were upset, they will
still support Obama. Thirty-one percent of Clinton primary supporters
said that they were not upset that Senator Clinton was not added to the
Democratic ticket. Roughly a third (35%) of Clinton supporters said
they'd be less likely to vote for McCain with Palin on the ticket,
while nearly one in five (19%) said they'd be more likely to do so.
Twenty-three percent of Clinton primary voters now say they will pull
the lever for McCain versus 18% when asked in July.
What Women Think of Governor Palin:
-- A majority (52%) of women had a mostly positive view of Palin, while 29%
were mostly negative. Thirteen percent were neutral or had a more mixed
view. Favorability of Palin tended to be lower among 18-34 year-olds
(44%), Black women (15%) and urban women (38%), and tended to be higher
among 35-44 year-olds (59%), 55-64 year-olds (60%), married women (60%)
and rural women (69%).
-- In an open-ended question about why they like or dislike Palin, those
with a positive view cited her personal characteristics (51%), followed
by her experience and qualifications (39%). Negative views derived
mostly from her position on issues (48%) and her lack of experience
(45%).
-- Of the 48% who held negative views on Palin's position on issues,
only 18% pointed to her pro-life/anti-abortion views. Of the 24% who
held a positive view of Palin based on her position on issues, only 5%
said it was because she was pro-life/anti-abortion.
-- When asked which aspects of Palin's background qualify her to be
Vice President, 55% cited her leadership of Alaska as Governor, 7% said
being the mother of five children and 5% said her tenure of Mayor of
Wasilla. Notably, 13% volunteered that all three aspects qualified her
and 23% felt that none of them qualified her.
Top of the Tickets Deemed Most Qualified and Prepared to be President:
-- Senator McCain was chosen as most qualified and prepared to be President
by a seven point margin over Senator Obama, 45% to 38%, and 10% cited
Senator Biden.
-- Despite the majority of women's favorable view of Palin, only 3% of
likely women voters deemed her most qualified and prepared to be
President of the United States.
Women Weigh in on Sexism Debate:
-- When asked how "fair" the media's coverage of Hillary
Clinton and Sarah Palin had been this year, more women voters felt they
had been treated well than poorly.
-- Women believe Senator Clinton has been treated more fairly than Governor
Palin, with 56% saying coverage of Clinton was fair and 50% saying that
coverage of Palin has been fair. Still, 40% maintained that Clinton had
been treated unfairly, and 42% said the same about Palin.
-- When asked what women consider to be acts of sexism in everyday life,
most women (61%) chose paying a man more than a woman for equal work,
followed by focusing on women's appearance (56%), favoring a man
over an equally qualified woman for a job or promotion (55%), focusing
more attention on a woman's personal life vs. her ideas (47%),
questioning the ability of women with children to handle a demanding job
(46%) and treating women differently than men, including favoring the
woman (45%).
Best Role Model for Young Girls:
-- One point separated Michelle Obama (29%) and Sarah Palin (28%) as the
"best role model for young girls" among the five female
politicians tested. An additional 23% cited Hillary Clinton; 9% picked
Cindy McCain; and 1% chose Jill Biden.
Lifetime's nonpartisan Every Woman Counts campaign, first launched in
1992 and now in its fifth presidential election cycle, ensures that issues
important to women are part of the campaign dialogue during election
season; encourages women to run for public office; and motivates women to
register and vote.
Methodology
WomanTrend, a division of the polling company, and Lake Research
conducted the nationwide telephone poll of 534 American women likely to
vote in the November 2008 Presidential Election. Interviews were conducted
September 11-15, 2008 at a Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)
facility using live callers. The margin of error for the main sample is +
4.4% at a 95% confidence interval. Margins of error for subgroups are
higher.
About Lifetime
LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated
basic cable television networks. A diverse, multimedia company, LIFETIME is
committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information
programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and
their families. LIFETIME Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real
Women and Lifetime Digital (including myLifetime.com) are part of LIFETIME
Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of Hearst Corporation and The
Walt Disney Company.
SOURCE Lifetime Television
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http://www.lifetimetv.com
CONTACT:
Nancy Bennett, 800-834-1110,
nancy@nancybennett.info
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