http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8350EZ20120406
President Barack Obama, leading in the polls among women voters, said on Friday he wants to help working women fight discrimination and juggle the demands of motherhood but stopped short of making promises on gender equality if he wins re-election.
At a White House event on women and the economy, Obama noted "there has been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately," a nod to the emergence of contraceptive rights, working women and all-male establishments as heated issues in his race for re-election in November.
"But I do think that the conversation has been oversimplified," Obama said. "Women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. You shouldn't be treated that way."
A USA Today/Gallup poll released this week showed Obama with a strong edge over Republican Mitt Romney, his most likely rival for the White House, among women voters in electoral battleground states including New York, Ohio and Virginia.
Obama won 56 percent of women's votes in 2008, giving him the edge he needed to win the election over Republican contender John McCain.
His fellow Democrats have accused Republicans of waging a "war on women," with proposed cuts to healthcare and the birth control group Planned Parenthood. The White House, meanwhile, has sought to cement Obama's support for women with moves such as a policy requiring employers to give women free birth control.
Obama, who was raised by a single mother, said that for him women's issues were not a passing concern.
"Women are over half this country and its workforce, not to mention 80 percent of my household if you count my mother-in-law," the father of two girls told the group. "Every decision I make is about making sure they, and all our daughters, and our sons, grow up in a country that gives them the chance to be anything they set their minds to."
The president said he was pushing for legislation to equip working women with more tools to fight pay discrimination, given that women in the United States still earn 77 cents for every dollar a man does for the same work, despite equal-pay legislation he signed in 2009.
SMALL STEPS
"When more women are bringing home the bacon, but bringing home less of it than men who are doing the same work, that weakens families, it weakens communities, it's tough on our kids, it weakens our entire economy," he said.
White House officials said they were focused on encouraging companies to give women more flexible working hours, including telecommuting options, and other small steps to help mothers care for their children while advancing their careers.
More ambitious plans, including increasing the length of maternity and paternity leave in the United States, which is a fraction of that afforded to parents in Europe, Canada and other advanced economies, is not on the immediate agenda.
"Extending parental leave is really something that requires Congress to act," a senior administration official said, saying gridlock on Capitol Hill and a fractious relationship between Republicans and the White House made such an agreement unlikely.
Obama has yet to outline much of his agenda for a second term.
lol Apparently, that won't bother his target voters. 
Then...
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...-women-voters/
Romney hones his appeal to women voters
Mitt Romney is starting to hone his appeal to women voters, acutely aware as he turns to the general election that he has little choice but to narrow President Barack Obama's commanding lead among this critical constituency.
None too soon, say many Republican activists. They expect Romney, as well as his popular wife, Ann, to make an explicit pitch to female voters on the economy and jobs, their top issues.
The eventual nominee "needs to start recognizing the power that women voters have," said Rae Lynne Chornenky, president of the National Federation of Republican Women.
Romney, on pace to clinch the nomination in June, if not earlier, acknowledges that the GOP faces a historical challenge in closing the advantage Democrats have with women. Like Obama, he sees pocketbook issues as the key to winning them.
"We have work to do to make sure we take our message to the women of America, so they understand how we're going to get good jobs and we're going to have a bright economic future for them and for their kids," Romney said this past week in Middleton, Wisc.
By Friday, Obama was making the same argument at the White House, where he hosted a conference on women and the economy. He presented a full review of the administration's achievements on equal pay and workplace flexibility as new unemployment numbers showed an uptick in job creation.
"When we talk about these issues that primarily impact women, we've got to realize they are not just women's issues. They are family issues, they are economic issues, they are growth issues, they are issues about American competitiveness," said Obama, using his office to cast himself as a defender of women. His Democratic allies are putting it more bluntly, accusing Republicans of waging a "war against women."
Almost daily, the nation's political discourse features some echo of this battle for women's votes, whether from members of the House and Senate, the Democratic and Republican national committees or the presidential candidates.
Earlier this spring, the president called Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke to reassure her after radio host Rush Limbaugh called her a "slut." She had testified to congressional Democrats in support of their national health care policy that would compel her school to offer health plans that cover her birth control. Republicans widely called Limbaugh's comments inappropriate.
On Thursday, Obama called for women to be accepted as members to the all-male Augusta National, home of the Masters golf tournament. Romney quickly followed his lead.
But the Republican's challenge is stark.
Romney must overcome history, political math and the missteps of a party that picked a fight over one provision of Obama's health care law and ended up on the defensive over access to birth control. Romney also has work to do with female voters after inconsistencies or misstatements on issues such as abortion and the future of Planned Parenthood.
Republicans have faced a "gender gap" since 1980, with women generally favoring Democratic candidates. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that gap lifts Obama to a lead across a dozen crucial states. The poll showed women favor Obama by 18 percentage points while men split about evenly between the two candidates. Taken together, that means women boost Obama to a 51-42 lead over Romney in those states.
There's evidence that Romney may have a steeper climb among women than Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP president nominee in 2008, faced.
Duh. In other words, women voters put Obama in the White House.
Linear Mode
