POLITICS ’88 : CAMPAIGN ’88 : Women Favor Dukakis

Women voters favor Dukakis by a wide margin over Bush because they feel economically vulnerable and believe Dukakis will bring needed changes, a Columbia University political scientist said Tuesday.

Recent public opinion polls show Dukakis leads Bush by 10 to 28 percentage points among women voters, said Ethel Klein, who has completed an analysis of women’s attitudes on the race.

Since women voters are expected to outnumber men voters by more than 10 million in the November elections, Klein said, efforts by Bush to close the gender gap could hold the key to the outcome.

The chief problem for Bush with women voters involves their feeling of economic vulnerability, Klein said.

“Women have a more pessimistic view of the future of the nation’s economy and their own financial situation than men,” she said. “Only 19% of women think the economy is getting better while 37% say it is getting worse.” In contrast, she said, 24% of men believe the economy is improving while only 29% think it is getting worse.

Klein said Bush can shrink the gender gap by voicing reassurances to women concerning their apprehensions and by developing a “social agenda” directed at middle-class women in the work force that would focus on child care and family concerns.