Okay, the percoset has worn off enough so that I won’t get picked up by the information superhighway patrol for BUI, and Jay says it’s okay to post when I’m on disability leave. So here goes:
I’d like to know what my fellow Swampers (especially you, Mudcat) think of this particularly interesting tidbit in the Post story today about Hillary Clinton’s polling among women:
Clinton is drawing especially strong support from lower-income, lesser-educated women — voters her campaign strategists describe as “women with needs.” Obama, by contrast, is faring better among highly educated women, who his campaign says are interested in elevating the political discourse.
Later, the story says:
According to the most recent Post-ABC national poll, taken between May 29 and June 1, women 18 to 44 years old are more likely to see Clinton as the most inspiring of the candidates. Clinton drew support from 61 percent of women who had at most a high school degree, compared with 18 percent for Obama. By contrast, female college graduates were more evenly split: 38 percent said they preferred Clinton, and 34 percent backed Obama. (Twelve percent said they supported Edwards.)
A large gap also appeared on the question of which candidate seemed the most honest and trustworthy: Clinton was considered most honest by 42 percent of women who had only a high school education, compared with 16 percent for Obama. But only 19 percent of college-educated women said Clinton is the most honest; 50 percent chose Obama.
This is a challenge that Clinton has had from her first Senate campaign. Her strategists have always told me that she has found it more difficult than they anticipated to draw support (and trust) from upper-income, highly educated women–in other words, women like herself. And yet, she is embraced by women who, by and large, either made different life choices than she did, or didn’t have those choices to make. So what gives?
UPDATE: C’mon, commenter Hoplite, admit it. You missed having me to kick around these two weeks. Good to see you again, too.