Poll: Palin helping GOP with women

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee has greatly increased the GOP ticket's appeal to women, a poll indicates.

Since she was chosen by Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Palin has helped the GOP ticket erase a once-wide lead held by Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois on the question of who best understands women's issues, Politico, a Washington publication, reported Monday.

Citing a survey by pollsters Kellyanne Conway and Celinda Lake for Lifetime Television, the Web site said the McCain-Palin team holds a 44 percent-to-42 percent lead over the Democratic ticket on who has a "better understanding of women and what is important" to them. Obama held a 52 percent-to-18 percent lead on the question in July, the pollsters said.

Breaking it down further, age was biggest determining factor. Young women, ages 18-34, chose the Democratic ticket as being more empathetic to their needs, while women aged 35-64 went for the McCain-Palin ticket, the Web site said.

The Lifetime Television poll, which surveyed 534 likely female voters, was conducted Sept. 11-15 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.