"Congentially Democratic?"

In a report from the Washington Post about the gender gap in politics:

Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway said that she could not comment on the
specifics of the polls but that she agreed with the general thrust of Lake's
findings. "Women, if left to their own devices, are going to tend and trend
Democratic. That is absolutely the case," she said. "Women are still
congenitally Democratic -- and I'm the Republican pollster saying that."

I don't share the belief that women are "congentially" Democratic--despite polling evidence that speaks to the contrary. Women, while generally more Democratic than the population as a whole, tend to lean toward those issue which have a "fuzzy" edge: healthcare, Social Security, family and economic issues. But the flaw in the poll, as pointed out by the article, is based on the almost generic description of Congressional candidates. I have long held, in repeated posts, that the way parties treat voters assumes the intelligence level of an idiot.

But what appeals to women voters, just as much as male voters, is not issues with warm and fuzzy appeals, but rather candidates with ideas to address their issues. There will always be a segment of voters who will vote one or another based solely on party identification, which is fine. But the swing voters in America will always respond to ideas. Bush won in 2004 because he had ideas, right or wrong, and people could formulate an opinion based on those ideas. Kerry--well not so much.

Currently, the Democrats continue to fail to pursue ideas and base their strategy on being anti-Bush. Something that is not going to win friends and influence people--including women.

I believe that once candidates with real ideas are presented to people, you will begin to see changes in that gender gap.

Women Returning to Democratic Party, Poll Finds