EMILY’s List poll shows Obama up 12 with women

DENVER — Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) holds a 12-point lead among women voters, a number on par with winning the general election, according to a survey released Tuesday by EMILY's List. 

The Democratic presidential candidate led Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) 51-39 among women overall and by wide margins among younger women. But questions remain about whether those voters will show up and if they will help a President Obama by also voting Democratic down-ballot.

{mosads}EMILY’s List, which supports Democratic women for office, supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the primary.

Women have generally favored Democrats in recent elections, giving former Vice President Al Gore and former President Bill Clinton double-digit victories in their demographic. Obama is on pace to replicate their vote share with women and build on Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) three-point edge in 2004.

Not surprisingly, Obama led most among Generation Y women — those aged 18 to 27. His margin with those youngest voters was 62-32. Generation X, baby boomers and seniors favored him by smaller margins in the survey, which was broken down into those four age groups.

EMILY’s List officials, at a Tuesday morning briefing in Denver, stressed that, while younger women were excited about Obama, they need to be mobilized for down-ballot races.  They insisted the presidential race is still fluid, but they suggested mobilizing women voters in congressional races would be paramount.

While 65 percent of Generation Y women said the presidential race would make a significant difference, only 25 percent said the same of their congressional races.

“As much as Generation Y voters are excited about Barack Obama, they do not see themselves as active political consumers,” said pollster Maren Hesla.

EMILY’s List President Ellen Malcolm acknowledged the enthusiasm gap as well.

“We have an important task, as you can see from this data, of reaching out to these Gen Y voters and these first-time voters and saying, ‘It’s not enough just to vote for Barack Obama,’ ” Malcolm said.

Other findings of the poll include:

— Obama continues to under-perform on the generic ballot question. Among women, Democrats hold a 55-36 advantage –—seven points larger than Obama’s margin. Among senior women, Obama leads by 11 while Democrats overall lead by 27.

— 43 percent of women named pocketbook issues as one of their top two issues this election.

— 77 percent of Generation Y women said sexism is a serious problem today.

— 8 percent of all women say that Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” comprise one of their primary sources of political news.