That would be Lancaster’s Lois Herr, former Democratic congressional candidate and currently executive director of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee. Herr, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, is part of Democrat Barack Obama’s Womens Steering Committee here in Pennsylvania.
Herr and the rest of the committee have an interesting job. Mainly, it’s to help Obama hold onto his edge among women voters because if it slips, McCain could find himself claiming Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes. Obama has a 51 percent-41 percent lead over Republican John McCain among Pennsylvania women while McCain’s up by six points among men, according to last week’s Quinnipiac University poll. Overall, McCain has pulled to within 3 percentage points of Obama, which means the race in the Keystone State is a statistical dead heat. With Sarah Palin on McCain’s ticket, the Republican appeal for women voters has grown that much stronger.
As Elizabethtown College professor Wesley McDonald said in an article I wrote last week, McCain’s pick of Palin was done in part to appeal to suburban women in the vital Philly ‘burbs, specifically working moms who can relate to the Alaska governor and mother of five children. And looking at the Q poll shows how the GOP has an opportunity to cut into Obama’s support among women. Consider that among women - keeping in mind that it’s an Obama strength - 38 percent of women say they haven’t heard enough about Palin to render an opinion. More than a third of those surveyed say they like her. If half of the undecideds break for Palin, it cuts away at Obama’s overall lead, which is thisthin right now.
By the way, 52 percent of women believe Palin was a “good choice” by McCain.
McCain’s hoping these independent-minded, moderate women voters forget about issues since many of them are pro-choice and lean left on several issues, not to mention 53 percent believe the economy the top issue. McCain’s hoping they find Palin appealing because of her biography as a hockey-mom-turned-tough-as-nails-politician with whom they may disagree but she represents a chance to breakthrough the ultimate glass ceiling. And she’s got five children to care for, on top of it.
In comparison, Obama’s veep pick, Joe Biden, has the support of 52 percent of women who view him favorably while 31 percent remain undecided, according to the Q poll. Tomorrow, Biden is appearing with his wife, Jill, at an event in the Philly ‘burbs. Think it’s a coincidence? Think there’s a reason the Obama campaign mentioned in its press release that Jill Biden grew up near Philly?
So Obama forming a “womens steering committee” in Pennsylvania comes at a time when both campaigns are trying through their veep candidates to appeal strongly to women. The only question I still have is … how much longer before Hillary Clinton returns to Pennsylvania to stump for Obama? For those us who diligently followed the knock-em-out-drag-em-out fight during this state’s primary, hearing Clinton talk in Pennsylvania about the virtues of an Obama presidency just five months after the April 22 primary will be a surreal experience, indeed.
