Recent presidential poll shows Baby Boomer women divided

Graphic by McClatchy Newspapers

The start of the Democratic National Convention on Monday in Denver, followed almost immediately by the Republican political love fest in Minniapolis/St. Paul, focuses attention on how certain age groups will vote Nov. 4.

Baby Boomers are certainly part of the equation.

There are any number of polls that break down voter sentiment by age, sex, sexual orientation, whether you drink your coffee caffeinated or de-caf, whatever.

Any nuance that’s reported has an impact on voter sentiment – Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s middle-of-the-night announcement, for instance, that U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware will be his running mate.

Voters will be sliced and diced more than the meat and vegetables at your local Japanese steakhouse.

But one thing is clear: Baby Boomer voters hold many of the cards in the presidential sweepstakes.

This was apparent in an EMILY’s List poll released earlier this week. It showed that among women voters, Obama wins 51 to 39 percent. Among Baby Boomer women, however, Obama holds only a slim advantage, 49 to 43 percent.

Obama, born in 1961, is on the young side of the Baby Boomer scale and the Emily’s List poll shows his appeal for younger women voters, especially those 18 through 27, the Gen Y’ers, 62 to 32 percent.

The Gen X voting women (those born 1965-80) favored Obama 49 to 41 percent, about the same support shown by Baby Boomer women. And the gap narrows even more among women who were born before 1946.

Given that EMILY’s List is pro-active toward candidates who support abortion rights, conservatives who generally favor Republican presidential candidate John McCain don’t put much stock in such a poll.

That EMILY’s list would release a poll that favors Obama doesn’t surprise Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women For America, a political action group based in Washington that opposes legal abortion.

"EMILY's List of course is going to present information or data that is favorable to the candidate that they are backing," she said in an interview with the McClatchy News Service.

Sometimes the battle of the polls is as fierce as the battle of the candidates.