Clark Leads Dems, Emily’s List Poll Shows Bush Does Well With Women
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 10, 2003
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new national poll shows that pro-abortion former General Wesley Clark leads the Democratic presidential candidates for president. Meanwhile, a new survey published by Emily’s List, a pro-abortion political group, reveals women are as likely to support Bush as they are a Democratic candidate.
A poll jointly sponsored by CNN, USA Today and Gallop found 21 percent of Democrats nationwide backed Clark. Howard Dean, the pro-abortion ex-Vermont Gov. had the support of 16 percent, while pro-abortion Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman each had 13 percent.
The poll was conducted from October 6 to 8 and the remaining candidates were in single digits. Fifteen percent remained undecided.
A mid-September poll gave Clark a 9 point lead with the other candidates battling for second place.
Meanwhile, a new poll sponsored by the pro-abortion PAC Emily’s List revealed that women are almost as likely to back President Bush as they are one of the Democratic presidential candidates.
Among women, 42 percent said they would likely support the Democratic nominee while 39 percent said they would back President Bush.
In 1996, Bill Clinton defeated Bob Dole by 16 percent among women voters. Bush cut the so-called "gender gap" to 11 in 2000.
By taking a pro-life position, President Bush gives himself an edge over the Democratic candidates, all of whom back abortion.
Of the 14% who said abortion was one of the most important issues in deciding whom to vote for in the 2000 presidential election, 58% supported Bush, while 41% voted for pro-abortion candidate Al Gore.
Emily’s List’s results follow closely on the heels of two polls showing a majority of women are pro-life.
In August, a poll conducted by the Polling Company found 54 percent of women selected one of three different pro-life views opposing all or almost all abortions. Only 39 percent backed abortion.
In June, the pro-abortion Center for the Advancement of Women released the results of a poll it sponsored showing that 51 percent of women took a pro-life position. Their poll also found that keeping abortion legal was the next to last most important priority for women as compared with other public policy issues.
Jennifer Bingham of the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life group that works to elect pro-life women to public office, tells LifeNews.com the media has painted a false impression that a majority of women support abortion.
"Poll after poll is showing that more and more American women are classifying themselves as pro-life," Bingham said. "After 30 years of the message that ‘choice’ means a women’s right to choose an abortion — women are finally expressing choice as the right to have a child."
