It might be time to redeploy from the “war on women,” as it appears the constant focus on this narrative is having diminishing returns for President Obama’s image among women.
Women now disapprove of Obama’s performance as president by 50 to 44 percent, according to the Washington Post/ABC News’ latest approval poll. That, according to the Post, nears an all-time low, and a near-reversal of Obama’s 55 to 44 percent performance among women in the 2012 exit polls.
Of course, 2012 was the beginning of the “war on women” narrative.
“His approval rating among women has slipped four percentage points from a year ago and 16 points since his second inaugural in January 2013, when his approval was 60 percent among the group,” the Post’s Karen Tumulty wrote Thursday.
Obama’s handling of the economy is even less popular with women, with just 40 percent approving while 55 percent disapprove. On every issue surveyed, women disapprove of Obama’s performance, including international affairs (56 to 37 percent), Obamacare implementation (53 to 41 percent), and immigration (59 to 32 percent).
Women also have an unfavorable view of Democrats in Congress, with 56 percent disapproving of the way they’re doing their job and 37 percent approving. This is a much higher level of approval than men, who disapprove of the party by a 65 to 29 percent margin.
Women still dislike the GOP more than Obama or the Democrats, however. Seventy-one percent of women polled disapprove of the way Republicans in Congress are doing their job, with just 19 percent approving. More men both disapproved of the GOP (73 percent) and approved of it (23 percent).
On the generic ballot question, women say they are more likely to vote for a Democrat than a Republican, 51 to 39 percent.
But as much as the war on women has helped women (mostly single women) dislike the GOP, it hasn’t made Obama or Democrats all that popular either.
