Too Cool to Talk To Us in High School

Maureen Dowd, Old Cranky Lady columnist, once used words to that effect to describe the chill to open hostility certain women feel with Barack Obama's candidacy. Ms. Dowd posited that these women, somewhere in the early primary season, did not gravitate towards Senator Obama--irrespective of his looks and charm--because he reminded them of a smug scholar-athlete that ignored them in school.

Well, it seems this "resentment" has not receded:

"Forty-nine percent of white women view Obama unfavorably, while only 43 percent hold a favorable opinion. In February, 36 percent of these women viewed Obama unfavorably, while 56 percent had a positive perception of the likely Democratic nominee."

F___.

Ah, but wait some reassurance???

"Intraparty divisions that arise during the primary season are typically mended over the course of the general election. Bill Clinton struggled with college-educated Democrats in the 1992 primary, as John F. Kerry did with young Democratic voters in the early stages of the 2004 race. Both candidates won back these blocs in the general election."

Women, particularly white ones, are the single most important part of any competitive Democratic candidacy. If Mr. Obama is only able to defeat Mad Mac 53-47 among this group, he will get swamped in the fall. Simply put, he needs +15 if not +20, or somewhere just beyond Clinton-era numbers.

Still... this is not encouraging:

"White women as a whole now prefer John McCain over Obama, by 49 percent to 41 percent. Last month, Obama was ahead of McCain among white women, 49 percent to 46 percent. The head-to-head matchup between McCain and Obama has not significantly shifted among white men."

Not to go all Gail Collins on you, but, people, that will not serve us well in November. Have no fear, Democratic pollster Anne Greenburg has the solution:

"The priority is going to be to bring back these voters."

Duh.

Barack Obama's greatest concern is that his story is too exotic for the majority of Americans to swallow. Whispers of whether he is a Muslim, whether he supports the existence of Israel, despite his clear explanations, continue to permeatate and possible corrode his campaign. Are white women truly going to choose the old guy and husband of a beer heiress over him?

Let's examine why this matters: Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin all narrowly rejected George W. Bush twice (good Americans), yet Mad Mac's faux independent streak threatens this quartet, which may well decide the election. I could see Senator Obama losing Pennsylvania and still winning (by virtue of Ohio and Iowa), but he cannot lose more than one. If I were advising John McCain I would strongly urge a heavy campaign buy in this part of Big 10 country. Dems simply cannot get to 270 electoral votes without these states, even if the early Florida numbers are wrong.

White women of America, we NEED you!!! Do not let us down! Yes, I know white men may vote for Mad Mac by a twenty-point bulge, but you need to give us Gore '00 (if not Clinton '96, '92) numbers! You elected Bill Clinton, we voted for Bob Dole! Hell, we probably would have voted for Phil Gramm, whose disastrous (Times word) economic policies may yet find a home in the next administration... if you don't push Barry over the finish line.


"Over the same period, Democratic white women’s negative view of Obama increased from 21 percent to 35 percent, while their positive view decreased from 72 percent to 60 percent — roughly the same rate as white women overall."

S___.