August 18, 2008 2:54 PM
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Obama Camp Suggests McCain Has Problem Winning Over Women
The Obama campaign just sent a memo to reporters posing this question: "Does McCain have a Woman Problem?"
In the memo, Senior Advisor for the Women's Vote Dana Singiser argues that "McCain's attempt to bridge the gender gap has fallen flat."
"He fares worse among women than any presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996," Singiser writes, citing polls showing Obama leading McCain among women.
Singiser claims that "McCain cannot close the gender gap" because (1) "[w]omen voters don't trust McCain because of his extreme positions on the key issues they care about" and (2) "[w]omen want change from the last 8 years of neglect for America's middle class families and women's economic security."
The memo spotlights issues important to women that the campaign suggests help Obama attract female voters by virtue of his positions. Among them are equal pay, health care costs, reproductive rights, and access to contraception and family planning services.
"61% of women strongly support putting more emphasis on reducing unintended pregnancies, including access to birth control and other family planning services," Singiser writes in the section on contraception and family planning.
She adds: "McCain has repeatedly voted against funding for family planning, accessibility of contraceptives for women, and ensuring that sex education is scientifically accurate. Obama believes that women should have access to affordable family planning and believes that our children should have access to comprehensive age-appropriate sex education."
UPDATE: A response from Tucker Bounds at the McCain campaign: "Barack Obama is spinning this issue to disguise his support for higher taxes, and refusing to acknowledge that the legislation he's promoting has more to do with paychecks for trial lawyers than the struggles of working women."
Bounds writes that the Equal Pay Legislation, which Obama supports, would benefit trial lawyers in part because it could lead to frivolous lawsuits.
It's also worth noting that Obama only had a two point lead among women in the latest CBS News poll.
In the memo, Senior Advisor for the Women's Vote Dana Singiser argues that "McCain's attempt to bridge the gender gap has fallen flat."
"He fares worse among women than any presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996," Singiser writes, citing polls showing Obama leading McCain among women.
Singiser claims that "McCain cannot close the gender gap" because (1) "[w]omen voters don't trust McCain because of his extreme positions on the key issues they care about" and (2) "[w]omen want change from the last 8 years of neglect for America's middle class families and women's economic security."
The memo spotlights issues important to women that the campaign suggests help Obama attract female voters by virtue of his positions. Among them are equal pay, health care costs, reproductive rights, and access to contraception and family planning services.
"61% of women strongly support putting more emphasis on reducing unintended pregnancies, including access to birth control and other family planning services," Singiser writes in the section on contraception and family planning.
She adds: "McCain has repeatedly voted against funding for family planning, accessibility of contraceptives for women, and ensuring that sex education is scientifically accurate. Obama believes that women should have access to affordable family planning and believes that our children should have access to comprehensive age-appropriate sex education."
UPDATE: A response from Tucker Bounds at the McCain campaign: "Barack Obama is spinning this issue to disguise his support for higher taxes, and refusing to acknowledge that the legislation he's promoting has more to do with paychecks for trial lawyers than the struggles of working women."
Bounds writes that the Equal Pay Legislation, which Obama supports, would benefit trial lawyers in part because it could lead to frivolous lawsuits.
It's also worth noting that Obama only had a two point lead among women in the latest CBS News poll.
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Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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