EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! Delivers in New Hampshire, January 9, 2008

I wanted to take a moment from my post-New Hampshire euphoria to share with you a memo that our WOMEN VOTE! Director just put out to the media … the success of our efforts in New Hampshire speak for themselves – but in case you were interested in digging into some of the numbers, check it out!

TO: Members of the Media
FROM: Maren Hesla, EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! Director
DATE: January 9, 2008
RE: EMILY's List WOMEN Vote! Delivers in New Hampshire
Last night we saw the fruits of a continuing effort by the EMILY's List WOMEN VOTE! program to turn out women voters for Senator Hillary Clinton. Starting in mid-December (see full release), EMILY's List began reaching out to more than 50,000 New Hampshire women who were either likely voters or new registrants.

The Results:
Turn out amongst women far exceeded the 2004 level. Women made up 57 percent of the electorate, and Senator Clinton won them by a twelve point margin. Senator Clinton drew support from women across a broad range of demographics winning single and married women as well as moms. She also significantly improved her performance over IA with younger voters. (See CNN Exit Polling)

The Women's Electorate in New Hampshire:

The EMILY’s List WOMEN VOTE! program targeted two groups of registered Democratic women voters: 1) likely voters, with a history of voting in primaries; and 2) new registrants. We wanted to maximize support for senator Clinton and expand the women’s electorate, and we succeeded in both goals.

Voter Contact -- The Message & The Issues:

Using a targeted program of direct mail and phones intended to deliver key information on Senator Clinton’s experience and strength on the issues women care about, we once again used the voice and perspective of native New Hampshire women to deliver this critical message. Our mail program featured real New Hampshire women, (Click here to view a sample of the mail) sharing their own personal reasons for supporting Sen. Clinton. Over a decade of research has confirmed that women respond strongly and positively to peer to peer communication. Our program, in a race that Senator Clinton won by about 7,500 votes, played a strong role in framing Senator’s very real connection to the women of New Hampshire.

The Results:
Exit polls show that women were driven to support her because of her ability to deal with the economic pressures they face in their lives – healthcare, jobs, the economy – they wanted an experienced leader who could deal with these issues. (See NY Times, CBS News and USA Today analysis)

The Landscape Ahead:

The results in New Hampshire bode well for the February 5 states. Our October survey of Democratic primary women in key Feb 5th states (see full report here) showed extraordinary support for Senator Clinton among women: at that time she led Senator Obama by a margin of 52 percent to 17 percent.

While many of the dynamics of the race have changed, much of the rationale for women’s support of Senator Clinton has not:

  • they see her as sharing their priorities;
  • as a strong commander in chief;
  • and as someone whose life experiences as a woman are similar to their own.

Women will continue to be a key factor in the presidential primary by dent of their numerical domination of the electorate and the growing connection they have to Senator Clinton’s message of effective leadership.

On to SC, NV, et al!!!,

Ramona