Women Voters Key in Presidential Election

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—President Barack Obama "believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care,” first lady Michelle Obama said during her Tueday speech to the Democratic National Convention. "That's what my husband stands for."

It was a continuation of a consistent message from women at all levels of the Democratic party: This election is about the government’s right to control your body. 

Earlier that day, just a few blocks away from where Mrs. Obama spoke, Gov. Nikki Haley made the somewhat different Republican pitch.

“Let me tell you about women. Women are extremely smart,” the first female governor of South Carolina said. “They care about a lot more than contraception.”

Those two arguments—that the 2012 presidential election is about women’s rights, and that women’s rights are a distraction from economic factors that affect American families—have been made again and again by supporters at every level in Charlotte this week and in Tampa last week. Much has been said about 2012 being a grand debate over the federal budget, but in a 50-50 nation, the narrative that wins this fight may win the White House.

Delegates in Lockstep

Women delegates in Charlotte and Tampa, who are more often than not leaders in their hometowns, are consistent in their messaging. “This war on women is absolutely phony,” said RNC delegate from Connecticut Pat Longo last week. “It’s strictly to distract from issues of debt, deficit, and spending.”

“Wisconsin women need to realize that we need to worry about what's going on for our kids and our grandkids,” said Patty Reiman,

On the streets of Uptown Charlotte, female physiology is front and center: Planned Parenthood supporters wear pink shirts everywhere, and Austin delegate Heather Ross went so far as to walk the streets of Charlotte with a pink felt “uterus” stitched into her ballcap.

Asked what American women need from this election, delegate Grace Carrington from Coral Springs, Md. said, “Let us make our decisions for our bodies. Period.”

Miami Democratic Delegate Bonnie Weiner stressed that the most important issue for her was that, “We could have our most basic and important rights taken from us.”

The Diminishing Number of Undecided Women

ABC News released a poll on Tuesday suggesting Republicans were cutting into Obama’s advantage among women. Michelle Obama's speech, stressing that "at the end of the day, my most important title is still 'mom-in-chief'" was no doubt designed to make up some of that lost ground.

But regardless of the affect of last night's speech, the army of businesswomen, moms and sisters on either side may continue to sway voters back and forth for the next 60 days.

As voting women pick sides, the best remaining opportunities may lie with women like Connecticut Representative Terrie Wood.

“I firmly believe social issues should be left to the individual and not to the government to decide,” Wood told a Patch editor in Tampa. “I find a lot of women in our community register as Democrats because they’re pro-choice and they support gay rights. Well, most of us [conservative women in Connecticut] do too.”

Wood is a Republican delegate and a firm Romney supporter. The question is how women who share her conflicted feelings will vote.

How important will women voters be in the upcoming election? Take our poll and tell us in the comments below.