The Gender Issue

The columns of political analyst Charlie Cook appear in National Journal. In tomorrow's issue he writes about the gender issue in 2016 presidential politics, with particular reference to the role of presumed Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton.

Clinton polls better among women than among men, no surprise. Also, among college-educated women as opposed to those not so. Cook writes:

Given that Clinton is unlikely to be able to match President Obama's turnout and support levels among minority and young voters, how can she make up for that? If there is a sphere in which she could conceivably outperform Obama, it is likely to be among women—arguably those who do not also fall into either the "minority" or "young" categories, as Obama did especially well with both minority and young women.

Republicans are obviously acutely aware of their problem with women voters. (snip) Less certain is how aware Democrats are of their problem with men voters, specifically white men.

Clinton is seriously unpopular with white men, while breaking even with white women.

Among white women, Clinton had a net positive score of 1 point (44 percent positive, 43 percent negative), while among white men, she was at -22 points (53 percent negative, 31 percent positive), a 23-point gender gap.

Evidence continues to mount that the major parties are moving in the direction of having "tribal" memberships.