It's so hard to imagine why women aren't throwing their votes at these guys. (Joshua Lott/Reuters)
The War on Women appears to be bearing rotten fruit for Republicans. A
USA Today/Gallup poll of 12 all-important swing states finds President Obama taking a giant lead over Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum among women.
USA Today/Gallup. March 20-26. ±4%. Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
All voters
Obama: 51
Romney: 42
Women
Obama: 54
Romney: 36
Men
Obama: 47
Romney: 48
Obama leads Rick Santorum by a 53 to 38 margin among women and 50 to 44 among men, for an overall 52 to 41 lead. The fact that neither Republican can make up their unpopularity among women by building a lead among men is bad news for the GOP, but what's noteworthy in this poll is the shift among women voters during the past month and a half of non-stop War on Women.
USA Today's Susan Page notes that:
In mid-February, just under half of [women under 50] supported Obama. Now more than six in 10 do while Romney's support among them has dropped by 14 points, to 30%. The president leads him 2-1 in this group.
One Republican strategist is quoted saying "The focus on contraception has not been a good one for us ... and Republicans have unfairly taken on water on this issue." Unfairly? There's a claim I'd be interested in hearing developed further. She admits that there has been a focus on contraception, yet somehow it's unfair when it's reflected negatively in the polls?
Like so many things, we'll likely see some movement back toward Romney when he shakes the Etch-A-Sketch and rebrands himself yet again as someone who's not really connected to the Republican party. The problem for him is, while that may work among a few low-information voters with very short memories, Romney's promises to get rid of Planned Parenthood and his support for the Blunt amendment allowing employers to exclude birth control and any other health service they religiously or morally disapprove of from insurance coverage won't be forgotten by enough women to make up the difference.