2 Polls: Women Not Flocking to McCain After Palin Pick

By: E&P Staff A new CNN/Opinion Research poll released today shows that the contest between Barack Obama and John McCain -- after the twin "bounces" of the past few days -- remains essentially tied, with Obama leading at 49% to 48%. But what's most intriguing are the results regarding McCain's choice for veep, who was expected to draw more women to his side.

In fact, men seem to be more impressed with this move than women.

?Women now appear slightly more likely to vote for Obama than they did a week ago, 53 percent now, compared to 50 percent," reports Keating Holland, CNN's director of pollling. "But McCain picked up a couple of points among men. More important, McCain solidified his party's base with the Palin selection, dropping Obama's share of the Republican vote six points to just 5 percent now. The Palin selection did not help among women ? that may come later ? but it did appeal to Republican loyalists.?

Men have a slightly favorably opinion of Palin than women -- 41 percent vs. 36 percent.

?If McCain was hoping to boost his share of the women's vote, it didn't work,? Holland said.

This seemed to be confirmed by a CBS poll released later in the day. It showed Obama with a 48% to 40% lead overall but with a wide lead among women, at 50% to 36%.

CBS also found: "Sixty-seven percent of Obama voters say they enthusiastically support him, which is up from 48 percent who said so before the convention. About a quarter of McCain?s backers are enthusiastic about him--unchanged from before the Democratic convention.

"Sixty-three percent of registered voters say Obama understands their needs and problems, while just 41 percent say that about McCain."

The CNN survey was conducted Friday through Sunday, after the conclusion of the Democratic convention and McCain?s selection of Palin.

Here is an excerpt from the CNN report.
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The poll suggests that the convention made people who watched more likely to vote for the Democratic ticket. Fifty-one percent of registered voters said the convention made them more likely to support Obama; only 32 percent said they were less likely to back the Democratic nominee.

So far, according to the poll, four in 10 Americans are not familiar with Palin. Thirty-eight percent of those questioned viewed her favorably and 21 percent unfavorably.

Is Palin qualified to be president? Fifty percent say she is unqualified to assume the presidency if that becomes necessary; 45 percent say she?s prepared for the White House.

In recent history, the only running mate to earn less confidence from the public was Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992.

Ultimately however, the Palin pick may have minimal effect on the race for the White House.

Almost six in 10 Americans say Palin?s selection as McCain?s running mate will have no effect on their vote. One in five say it makes them more likely to vote for McCain; one in five say it makes them less likely.

Three quarters of all voters think McCain chose a female running mate specifically because he thought adding a woman to the Republican ticket would help him win in November.