Female vote crucial in 2012 presidental election

LA CROSSE, Wis. — With less than 50 days till voters head to the polls, both parties say women voters may be the deciding factor on who wins.

The female vote has always been important, mainly because women are generally more likely to vote than men, and with this such a tight race this year, both parties say every woman heading to the polls will make a difference.

“It’s important because it’s my right, and because it’s the only way I have something to say,” said Marcia Wine of Onalaska.

Wine is one of a dozen women who gathered at the La Crosse County Democratic headquarters to lend her support for the Wisconsin coalition of Women for Obama.

Democrats have historically done well with women, and the party chair hopes the female vote on social issues such as education and health care will continue the party’s traditional advantage.

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“Women do watch [and] do vote, and women do vote about family issues,” said Vicki Burke, La Crosse County Democratic chair. “They vote about what is important to them, and I think that’s why it’s important for us to get the message out to women so that they understand the differences. These are two very, very different presidential candidates.”

At the La Crosse County Republican party headquarters, appealing to women voters is also key, but the staple issue of their efforts is the economy.

“In La Crosse, we have a number of small business owners who are women, and when you have over regulation that is constant and taxes, that really does hit the bottom line of profit,” said Sue Lynch of the National Federation of Republican Women.

And with less than 50 days until voting day, both parties know every woman who heads to the polls will help.

“Women will be the deciding factor,” said Lynch. “With the numbers that we have, and it has been talked about for months, and months, and months, that women’s vote will be the deciding factor.”

In the 2008 election, the U.S. Census reported 66 percent of women voted. That’s with the 62 percent of men who cast ballots.