Behind the Vote

Yesterday, I went to Barack Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago, where I met with top campaign officials for the campaign's first-ever 'Women's Media Roundtable.'

The purpose of the meeting was to talk about how the Obama campaign is addressing the issues that matter most to women. It also was a fascinating look at the inner workings of a president's reelection campaign.

It quickly became evident that the Obama campaign considers women like you to be absolutely critical to his reelection. Read on to find out why.

Consider these statistics:

-Women vote more often than men.

-Women are a greater percentage of the electorate.

-65% of eligible women voted in the 2008 presidential election, compared to 61% of men.

-Women make up 63% of presidential election year African American voters and 57% of Latino voters.

-54% of female voters are over 30.

-Women make up the majority of the electorate in swing states. For example, they are 53% of the electorate in Ohio, 52% in Colorado and 52% in New Hampshire.

Add to this the fact that in polls, a majority of women consistently prefer Obama to Romney and that 59% of Obama's campaign donors are women (by comparison, 71% of Romney's campaign donors are men), and it's pretty clear why Obama's looking at you, kid.

The campaign is pulling out all the stops to appeal to women, and to use messaging that strikes a chord with you. Women make up a majority of Obama's campaign staff and 46% of senior campaign leadership.

Democrats are antsy now because while Obama won the woman vote in 2008, Republicans received the majority of women's votes in the 2010 midterm elections.

Obama's campaign is working to win those on-the-fence female voters back, and campaign analysts believe that one of the best ways to do that is through friends and neighbors. That's why the Obama campaign has been organizing house parties for Obama across the country, generally hosted by women, and training female volunteers to use personal anecdotes when talking to potential voters about why they should consider voting for Obama in November.

Regardless of your politics, this should give you a better understanding of the strategy behind what you're seeing now from the Obama campaign as we head toward November. You are being courted by this campaign, ladies.

Is it working?

Image via Sara D. Davis/Getty Images