Planned Parenthood Shows (Once Again) Why Women Are The Crucial Voters In 2012

Just a little over a month ago, the political arm of Planned Parenthood announced its endorsement of President Barack Obama and unveiled an ad campaign against Obama’s competitor, Mitt Romney. And while Planned Parenthood has certainly felt some heat this election cycle, its campaign has been staggeringly effective at rallying supporters for Obama — and the GOP should take notice.

Let’s back up: It’s not difficult to see why Planned Parenthood wouldn’t be a huge fan of Romney — the candidate said, if elected, he’d cut off federal funding for the group. Pretty obvious to see why Planned Parenthood would rather that not happen. So in late May, the group formally backed Obama and released this, a T.V. spot that became a key piece in its $1.4 million campaign against Romney, according to Yahoo News:

“Just wrong for women.” Ouch.

The barrage hit some key battleground states, including Florida and Iowa. And the ads have been very effective, according to new polling data obtained by Politico.

Polling women who did and did not report having watched the Planned Parenthood T.V. spots, Hart Research Associates found that women who “recalled seeing the ads” were more likely to favor Obama over Romney. In one polling group in Des Moines, Obama had a 28-point lead over Romney among women who had seen the spots. Among women who hadn’t? The pair were tied neck-and-neck. The ads appeared to have hit the mark.

Of course, there are a number of variables that could have affected this. There’s no accounting for where respondents saw the ads. And, as Politico rightly pointed out, it’s entirely possible that a person predisposed to favor Obama would be more likely to remember and absorb an anti-Romney ad.

That being said, the success of the Planned Parenthood campaign shows something valuable: Winning women is still key — and this election is still very much about us. Painting Romney as straight-up, “just wrong for women” had a profound effect.

Is the Fluke controversy behind us? Perhaps. But if this instance is any indication, women are still a key (if not the key) in 2012.

TAGS: planned parenthood ad | planned parenthood romney ad

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