 Barack Obama and John McCain are the two contenders in America's presidential election this year, but the campaign has also been dominated by two very different women, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Indeed, many observers believe that women will determine the election's outcome. So, to paraphrase Sigmund Freud, "What do American women want?" Until the 1960's, American women were more likely than men to support Republicans. In the 1980 election, a different gender gap emerged, with women more likely than men to support Democrats. In 1996, women's support for Bill Clinton was 14 percentage points higher than men's, and in 2000, women favored Al Gore over George W. Bush by 12 points. |
