Poll: Romney Leads Among Virginia Women

Friday’s Rasmusssen Reports poll not only found Mitt Romney with a three-point lead (50%-47%) over Obama in Virginia but also with a two-point lead (49%-47%) among women voters. 

Romney hit the critical 50% mark in Virginia, but it is even more significant that he beats Obama among women voters while the Obama campaign has insisted women voters, especially those in Northern Virginia, would be his greatest firewall. This is why the Obama campaign has played up birth control and abortion in the latter stages of the race, with Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecille Richards introducing the President at a Friday rally in Northern Virginia. 

The Obama campaign has tried to use Romney’s comments about having “binders full of women” when he actively recruited females for leadership positions in the Massachusetts government to paint him as somehow hostile toward women. 

Romney leads among men and on the economy by five points. He leads among independents by four points. Obama leads with those 18 to 39 years of age by 11 points, but Romney leads with all other age groups, including a 27-point lead among seniors 65 years and older. 

Among those who say the are certain to vote (94%), Romney leads 52% to 47%. Among those who said they have already decided for whom to vote (88%), Romney leads Obama by two points (51%-49%). 

Forty-seven percent approved of Obama’s job performance while 50% did not, and when asked which candidate would give them the best advice when faced with a tough decision in life, those surveyed favored Romney by five points. 

Rasmussen Reports polled 750 likely voters on October 18, which means both the presidential debates and the vice presidential debate were taken into account. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 4 percentage points.