Gallup released a poll on Thursday showing both President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney have each have gender gap issues. According to Gallup:
Male voters currently prefer Mitt Romney over Barack Obama by an eight-percentage-point margin, while female voters prefer Obama over Romney by an identical eight points. These gender-gap figures, based on Gallup Daily tracking conducted July 30-Aug. 19, are virtually identical to what they were four months ago.
Gallup explains the gender issue has received new focus on the campaign trails since the Rep.Todd Akin controversy emerged. Democrats are using Rep. Akin’s remarks regarding rape nationally to club Republicans over the head with.
Gallup goes further into race, age, and education in their poll. Their conclusion is:
The gender gap in presidential preferences has not changed over the last four months, with men preferring Romney over Obama by eight points, while women prefer Obama by an identical margin.
The nature of the gender gap varies significantly across demographic segments. Support for Obama is so strong among black voters that gender makes little difference, but both white and Hispanic women are more likely to support Obama than are men in each of these groups. Women are more strongly for Obama than are men across all age groups, and the gender gap is starkly evident among voters with postgraduate education.
All in all, Obama’s strongest support among women comes among those who are under 30, those with postgraduate education, and those who are black and Hispanic. Conversely, Romney receives his strongest support among men who have college degrees but no postgraduate education, and among older and white men.
