Women to GOP: Just Not That Into You

The message from women to the Republican Party in a new Gallup poll: They're just not that into you.


Six months after the 2008 elections (when the Republicans had a woman on the ticket), Democrats now hold a double-digit lead over the GOP when women are asked to identify their political party. The results show 41% say they are Democrats, 29% say they are independent, and just 27% call themselves Republicans.

When independent women voters were asked which party they lean toward, the picture (above) is even more bleak for the GOP- 55% of women say Democrat, while 33% say they're Republican. The two parties were nearly even in 2005.

So what happened? The financial meltdown, for one. Women in 2008 polls were more likely than men to call the economy their number one issue, and most said candidate Barack Obama would do a better job of handling the economy than Sen. John McCain. Obama won with women's vote 56% to 43%.

Another problem could be the lack of female faces looking back at women from the GOP's roster of elected officials. Republicans in Congress count only four women in the Senate and 17 in the House, far fewer than the Democrats' 14 and 57 respectively.

All is not lost for the party of Lincoln. Their spiritual leader, Ronald Reagan, won the women's vote both times.

The bad news: Women have made up the majority of voters since 1964. If you don't win the women, it's hard to win the election, so it's time to work it, GOP.