This is the demographic group that will determine who the next president is, apparently, and the one that Republicans are hoping Sarah Palin will pull to their side. Hillary Clinton had their support, but will they stay Democrat now that Obama is at the top of the ticket?
The Los Angeles Times argues that the Palin pick isn't quite luring them over, at least in one key battleground state, Pennsylvania:
Interviews with some two dozen women here after Palin's convention speech found that these voters were not swayed by the fiery dramatic speeches or compelling personal biographies that marked both the Republican and Democratic conventions. Instead, they were thinking about the price of milk -- nearly $5 a gallon -- or the healthcare coverage that many working families here cannot afford.
Even if they admire Palin's attempt to juggle political ambition, an infant son with Down syndrome and a pregnant unwed daughter, these women say that maternal grit is not enough to win their votes.
Waitress Judy Artice, "Miss Judy," as she is known at Glisan's roadside diner, declared Palin "the perfect candidate" after watching her Wednesday speech. That said, Artice had already decided that her vote would go to the first candidate who mentioned gasoline prices.
"And -- I'll be danged -- it was Obama," Artice, 46, said between servings of liver and onions during the lunch rush.
Both campaigns have signaled that these blue-collar hamlets could be where the election will be decided, an assessment made even more likely when the nation's unemployment rate hit a five-year high in August.
McCain dominates among white men, and Obama, who would be the first black president, is all but sweeping the black vote, most polls show. That leaves white women, the so-called Clinton base, as one of the most sought-after voting groups left on the table.
We will monitor this as the campaign proceeds.
