| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 12:08 pm |
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Nation & World 
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Key voter bloc remains undecided Many middle-aged white women are unsatisfied with campaign rhetoric WASHINGTON -- In past presidential elections, Veronica Deveso could have told you by now who she was backing and why. Not this time.All the former taxi dispatcher from Hamburg, N.Y., wants is a candidate "with a solid plan to do something, almost anything," to bolster the economy and end the Iraq war. Dissatisfied with the campaign rhetoric she's heard so far, Deveso, 56, remains "right at the top of that wall and could fall either way." The wall she's perched on is crowded. White women age 45 to 64, like Deveso, are one of this year's most hotly contested voting blocs, evenly divided between Barack Obama and John McCain, and wide open to being pulled either way, according to a recent Associated Press-GfK Poll. There are plenty of them, too, prompting both campaigns to court them vigorously. About one in six voters in the 2004 presidential election was a white woman in that age range, exit polls showed. These are the Boomer Women -- middle-aged children of the post-World War II generation. Many are veterans of balancing jobs with running households, and often acutely aware of their families' economic pressures because they write the checks, buy the groceries and fill the tank with gas. With a worldwide economy that's lurching toward recession, they're demanding that the presidential candidates show them concrete solutions to the financial crisis and other problems. As a group, these middle-aged white women have not yet been swayed by either contender -- in contrast to black and Hispanic women, who back Obama by the same heavy proportions that minority-group men do. They're split between McCain and Obama, and identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans in about equal numbers, the AP-GfK poll showed. "If they came up with something about the economy that really made me feel like they have a really good handle on it," it would help, said Rae Ann Priester, 52, of Fresno, Calif., who is leaning toward Obama but could switch. "They're sort of dancing around the issue." A sizable 44 percent of them remain persuadable -- that is, either completely undecided or favoring one candidate while conceding they may change their minds. That's bigger than the 33 percent of all voters are still persuadable. "If you're aged right in the middle like me, it's hard to decide," said Deborah Nance, 56, of Wilmington, Del. "Go with the seasoned guy who might get in there and die the next day, or go with the young guy who you really don't know all that much about." The evenly divided Boomer Women contrast with voters overall, who polls show have leaned toward Obama since the financial crisis intensified in recent weeks. And while voters overall trust Obama more than McCain on the economy, Boomer Women in the AP-GfK poll are about equally split over which candidate they prefer on the issue, though they narrowly say Obama better understands how the crisis affects them. The poll was conducted late last month, before the release of economic plans by Obama and McCain. Obama's neck-and-neck showing with McCain among Boomer Women is better than the 2004 performance by Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. White women ages 45 to 64 favored Bush that year by 12 percentage points. In the recent AP-GfK survey, more Boomer Women said Obama understands people like them than said so about McCain. But more said McCain has the right experience to be president than said Obama did. The AP-GfK Poll was conducted Sept. 27-30 and included cell and landline telephone interviews with 808 likely voters, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Included were interviews with 135 likely white female voters age 45-64, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 8.4 points. |
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(10) - Vote on school levies by Tuesday (9)
- Everett police officers cleared in 2008 shooting death (5)
- 1949 travel aid shows how few places blacks were welcome in Washington (4)
- Everett rethinks boutique wineries (4)
- Three politicians who want Gregoire's job in 2012 (3)
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- Snohomish County's bargain housing won't last (3)
- Life story: Man fought depression courageously, family says (3)
- I-5 bridge joint may give you a jolt, but it isn't damaged (3)
- Edmonds educator, famous announcer dies
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- The path to citizenship
- EUUC puts on ‘Pants & Shoes’
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- Lynnwood’s annexation plans OK’d
- Arlington's Cascade Valley Hospital celebrates expansion, national award and 100 years of service
- Business Licences Feb. 2010
- Technology tips for launching your own business
- Business Events Feb. 2010
- Tech Talk: No excuse today for going without a Web site
- State already raising fees and rates that restrict business growth
- Some legislators again targeting people’s initiative petition rights
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