November 2, 2002
GENDER GAP:
Support of women voters for Townsend lukewarm (Howard Libit and Sarah Koenig, November 2, 2002, Baltimore Sun)The Maryland Poll, taken for The Sun and The Gazette newspapers by Potomac Survey Research Inc., found Townsend leading Ehrlich among women 49 percent to 42 percent with a week to go until Election Day.By contrast, the poll shows Ehrlich leading Townsend among men, 54 percent to 38 percent - a large enough difference to overcome the fact that women make up a larger share of the electorate.
"That gap among women is not enough for Townsend," said pollster Keith Haller, president of Potomac. "She needs to seriously get greater support among women in order to prevail."
Past elections suggest Maryland women should be Townsend's not-so-secret weapon. In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore beat George Bush among Maryland's female voters by 18 percentage points, the second-largest gender gap in the United States, according to an analysis by the Feminist Majority Foundation.
She's in the process of not becoming Governor. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 2, 2002 6:29 AM
The good news seems to be the Dems losing some supposed momentum in the Governor races, which they will still keep, but which a majority is not crucially needed. Rather every win we get which we thought we weren't going to get helps us, as opposed to losing majorities, by which losing 1 or 5 is meaningless.
Posted by: Neil at November 2, 2002 9:15 AM