He pulled up in 2008, won over the parents and even got along with the kid brother. Wit, charm, hope, and change- what a guy! Dazzled by his touching, though rather vague campaign rhetoric, the majority of American women, decided to give this handsome Chicago beau a whirl, whisking him into the Oval Office with 56 percent of the female vote.
But after nearly four years of going steady, with an overwhelming 70 percent approval rate among women during his early days in office, the relationship between President Obama and the female voter has hit a rough patch.
Last week’s Gallup poll showed that only 41 percent of American women still approve of the Commander and Chief, while over the past three months, the President’s approval ratings have dropped a full 11 points among the gentler sex. Clearly things have cooled.
This drop in support is cause for serious concern within Obama’s reelection campaign team. And so the courtship of female voters begins again. In an effort to reenergize the female base, the stylish First Lady will join hardened veteran of the feminist movement, Gloria Steinem, at a fundraising event in New York next week. Among the many Democratic women in attendance, two of the featured guests include EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock and Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood.
But are these efforts well directed? Can merely waving a pro-abortion banner over his camp win back Obama’s lost female supporters? Were it so simple. The President’s campaign would have done well to heed yet another poll in recent past. According to a 2009 Gallup Poll, for the first time in our nation’s history more Americans, consider themselves pro-life than pro-choice. In particular, the majority of American women now identify themselves as pro-life.
Far from pointing out an inconsistency among female voters, the Gallup poll demonstrates that women care and care deeply about the life issue. Even Mr. Obama himself appealed to this concern, albeit in a different context, during his 2008 campaign. While rallying a mostly female audience in Iowa the pro-choice President remarked: “It’s that sense of connection, the belief that every child in this country matters because you know what it’s been like to hold your own child and the notion that somehow that child would not be loved and nurtured and cherished and cared for and given every opportunity in the world makes you angry.” If only he had intended this outpouring of fatherly concern to extend to the unborn.
As things stand in 2011, American women are, if not angry, gravely disappointed with President Obama. Disillusionment has set in. The old-school feminist ideals of Gloria Steinem, the radically pro-abort agenda of EMILY’s List, and the scandal-ridden business practices of Planned Parenthood offer no hope to this young, pro-life generation of American women. These women value life and are hungry for a change in leadership. So, sorry Mr. President, you’re very charming, but all talk, and honestly, we’re just not that into you.
