Obama Wins Teamsters Endorsement, Clinton Loosing Edge Among Women
According to The Star Press:
WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign received more good news Wednesday with the endorsement by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters a day after his decisive victories over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Wisconsin primary and Hawaii caucuses.
Clinton spokesmen played down the grim news that she lost her edge among women and other key demographic groups in the Wisconsin contest as Obama widened his lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Clinton’s chief strategist, Mark Penn, said her poor showing was “a result of the investments the Obama campaign made” in the state.
The picture that emerged from exit polls showed Obama resoundingly defeated Clinton among demographic groups her campaign is counting on for support in the critical primaries that will be held March 4 in Ohio and Texas. Rhode Island and Vermont also vote that day but have fewer delegates at stake.
According to exit polls published by CNN, Obama’s 58 percent to 41 percent victory included a majority of support among most key demographic groups.
Women evenly split their vote between the two candidates while Obama racked up a 36 percentage-point edge among men, 67 percent to 31 percent.
Clinton’s campaign has long held that her candidacy has created excitement among female voters that would offset any advantage an opponent would have among men.
But Wisconsin was not the first state where she has failed to win a majority of women. It happened in Missouri and Iowa, too.
Karen Kaufmann, an associate professor of politics at the University of Maryland, theorized that Clinton’s ”feminist boost” from women on the East and West coasts might not exist in the Midwest...click to continue.
