The campaigns of President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney are exploiting different issues in a direct appeal to women voters, whose past shifts from one party to another have made the difference in elections.
According to the
Boston Globe, the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign are focusing on the healthcare issue to make their case, sensing that many women are driven away by the Republican focus on social issues.
The Democrats and Obama campaign launched a joint phone and direct mail campaign last Friday targeting women, which happened to coincide with the second anniversary of Obamacare and the start Monday of the Supreme Court arguments over the law’s constitutionality.
Meanwhile, the Globe reported, Republican front-runner Romney has been increasingly using his wife “as his designated emissary to the opposite sex” to help keep the focus on the economy.
Ann Romney now speaks frequently on the campaign trail about “the anger” she says many women feel about spending and deficits, and the impact it could have on the futures of their children and grandchildren.
The stakes are obvious: Women made the difference for Democrats in 2008 when they retook control of the House from Republicans and they helped the GOP get the House back again in 2010.
According to Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, 2010 marked the first time in 37 years that the Democratic Party did not carry women voters in a national election.
“It’s the ultimate battleground,” Lake told the Globe. “Independent women will be who determines this election.”
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