Poll: 6 in 10 Ready for Female President
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James Joyner | Tuesday, February 22, 2005 |
Poll: 6 in 10 Ready for U.S. Woman Leader (AP)
More than six in 10 voters say they believe the United States is ready for a female president, a poll found. The poll, conducted by the Siena College Research Institute and sponsored by Hearst Newspapers, also found that 81 percent of people surveyed would vote for a woman for president and 53 percent think New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton should try for the job. Other polls have identified the former first lady as the voters’ favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination.
On the Republican side, 42 percent of voters said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should run for the White House and 33 percent named North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
The pollsters found about 60 percent of voters said they expect a woman to be the Democrats’ nominee for president in 2008. In contrast, they found 18 percent expected the Republican ticket to be headed by a woman.
The actual poll results [PDF format] at here. This is indeed a national sample: “This Hearst Newspapers/Siena College poll was conducted February 10-17, 2005 by telephone calls to 1,125 registered voters in the fifty states and the District of Columbia. It has a margin of error of + 2.9 points.” Apparently, no likely voter screen was applied–but then, the election is nearly four years away.
The “support” for Clinton is owing, almost entirely, to name recognition and the widespread assumption that she’s running. Further, the methodology here is closed-ended:
[The] poll also asked respondents if four women active in public affairs nationally should run for president. New Yorkâs Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton received the greatest support (53%), followed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (42%). Trailing were Senators Elizabeth Dole (33%) and Barbara Boxer (13%).
So, this is not support for any of the candidates per se, just an opinion as to whether the four mentioned should run. Further, we don’t know the rationale for the support. Theoretically, Boxer’s Yes’s could be entirely from Republicans who would love to see her trounced.
The acceptability of a female candidate more generally, though, is interesting:
On domestic issues, this mirrors what we’ve been seeing for a decade or more in state-wide races: Women candidates suffer no significant disadvantages compared to their male counterparts and have a significant advantage on the “family” issues. What’s somewhat surprising, though, is that a majority of those polled say that there is no difference between the sexes on foreign policy and a near-majority say that with respect to warfighting. That would not have been the case during the Cold War.
Hat tip: Athena
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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I thought 6 out of 10 looks a little low. Sometime (most of the time) it depends on how the questions are phrased. The 81% of people that would vote for a woman looks a little more reasonable.
38% don't know who Barbara Boxer is. I guess that explains all the noise.
I thought 6 out of 10 looks a little low.
I wonder if if would be higher if certain women had not been mentioned as prospective candidates? Hillary Clinton is the best argument I have ever seen for repealing the 19th Amendment.
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