ABSTRACT
In the run-up to the 2012 election, the so-called gender gap received an enormous amount of attention from political commentators. Women were, on average, more supportive of Obama than men, who were more supportive of Romney. Indeed, Obama's strength among American women aided his victory in 2008 and 2012. Exit polls showed that 55 percent of women voted for Obama, compared to 45 percent of men (Bassett 2012). Obama's strong showing among women was largely credited to women's concerns regarding reproductive issues such as contraception and abortion, though, as this chapter will demonstrate, many scholars have attributed the gender gap in voting to other variables.
