Gender becomes hot topic in competitive Democratic primary

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the New Hampshire primary on a surge of support from women. Just five days earlier, female voters preferred Sen. Barack Obama in Iowa.Gender has become a hot topic in the competitive Democratic primary after a long weekend in New Hampshire, where Clinton had a tearful moment on the campaign trail and a tense debate left some women feeling that her male rivals had disrespected her.But with racial and generational crosscurrents also at play in the presidential race, no one was suggesting that Clinton can take women's votes for granted.Obama remains popular among young and affluent voters, who tend to ignore gender more often.Robbie Sowells, 83, a Sacramento, Calif., Democrat who is black, said she has a hard time choosing between Obama and Clinton. But she said that after seeing an endless string of male presidents, she plans to choose Clinton "because she's a woman."Stephanie Chan, a 20-year-old Obama supporter volunteering in Sacramento, said gender is not the deciding factor, even though she acknowledges Clinton could become the first female president. She said Obama appealed to her on issues such as greater access to education for students."I think younger voters are thinking that way because we were brought up in a different era from our parents," Chan said. "They see race and gender in a slightly different light than I do. It's more of a nonissue for us."Clinton's New Hampshire victory Tuesday night is believed to be the first presidential primary win for a woman, yet it was a fact so unnoticed that Emily's List, which backs Democratic female candidates who back abortion rights, was researching late Wednesday whether it was indeed correct.Lynn Vavreck, a UCLA political-science professor, said it is difficult to make predictions about how women will vote in the remaining Democratic primaries.The women who did support the New York senator in Iowa, for example, were older women, she said."I suspect that the California electorate looks different in basic demographics than the New Hampshire electorate on things like income distribution and age," Vavreck said, "so I wouldn't be so sure all women will break for Hillary Clinton the same way they did in New Hampshire."Women made up 57 percent of voters in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Of those women, 46 percent chose Clinton, compared with 34 percent for Obama, according to a National Election Pool exit poll.In Iowa, where Obama won the state's caucuses last week, an entrance poll showed 35 percent of women chose the Illinois senator, compared with 30 percent for Clinton.Clinton told NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday she changed her fortunes with a strong performance during Saturday's debate in New Hampshire. Some pundits also speculated that her response to a voter Monday, in which she choked up while describing how she deals with a rough campaign, may have made her more likable."It was such a different side for voters to see," said Maren Hesla, the women's-vote director at Emily's List.Hesla's group reached out to 54,000 women in New Hampshire via direct mail and phone calls before the primary, focusing on first-time primary voters and longtime Democratic registrants while ignoring independents.She was not yet sure whether her group would pursue similar outreach in California before its Feb. 5 primary.California is the biggest prize among the 22 states voting on Feb. 5. The Field Poll projects that women will make up as much as 58 percent of the Democratic electorate.The state has a track record of electing women to office, including its two U.S. senators, Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House. Clinton held a 41 percent-to-21 percent lead over Obama among women in December in the Field Poll."There's a built-in advantage in recent California history if a candidate gets support from women on the Democratic side," said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. "Look at who has been elected. ... Feinstein was the nominee for governor in 1990, then Feinstein and Boxer were nominated and elected to the Senate in 1992."Kathleen Brown was the nominee for governor in 1994."But that doesn't mean Clinton should assume women who vote for her do so on the basis of her gender, Vavreck said."Clearly, that was a factor for her in New Hampshire," Vavreck said. "But the question is, did these women show up and vote at the polls just because they wanted to vote for her? We don't know that."(Contact Kevin Yamamura at kyamamura(at)sacbee.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)