Why Connecticut women are forsaking the "first woman ever" for Obama:
Allison Johnson and Melanie Jackson are just giddy about the possibility of an attractive African-American male taking over the White House.
But they've also got solid reasons for supporting Barack Obama — and neither race nor good looks are among them. They both like Obama's stance on No Child Left Behind — he would increase funding for the program, maintain the goal of measuring schools and change the way students are tested — along with his positions on universal health care and college funding.Gender has even less to do with why they like him.
So much so that they, along with so many other Connecticut women, are passing on a chance to nominate the first female U.S. president and instead backing what at one time seemed an even less likely prospect: a black man.
Women have emerged as the kingmakers — or queenmakers — in the early Democratic contests. They handed Hillary Clinton a decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary after her now-famous "emotional" moment in a Portsmouth coffee shop, and sealed her narrow Nevada caucus win. Obama was the ladies' man in Iowa.
Connecticut women matter hugely to the candidates. How else would you explain the statement Obama's campaign released last Friday, which defended the senator against charges that he voted against women's rights in the Illinois legislature? The campaign uses NARAL Pro-Choice America president Nancy Keenan, along with state Reps. Roberta Willis (D-Lakeville) and Toni Walker (D-New Haven) to vouch for Obama. As the Advocate was going to press, Obama was preparing to launch a state chapter of Women For Obama — no doubt he's looking for broad support.
Obama's got a hill to climb: a January Hartford Courant /UConn poll showed Connecticut women favor Clinton over Obama 52-21. Where that stands in light of Obama's landslide victory in South Carolina is unclear.
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