For Women, A Long-Awaited Primary Day
By Kimberly Anglin

The weather may have been overcast, but on Super Tuesday New York City’s women voters didn’t seem to mind. They found their way to polling centers to cast their ballots and let their voices be heard, even if they were only able to give a quick shout.

The earliest of the day’s women voters could stop only briefly to cast their ballots before running off to their jobs. “I’m already late for work,” said one woman expertly juggling two handbags while frantically checking her watch and hurrying down the street.

Women voters seemed well aware of the historic nature of this year’s primary: for the first time, two minorities, a woman and an African-American, had an equally strong chance of becoming the Democratic presidential candidate in the November -- and possibly the country’s next president.

For this reason, some women cited to a stronger bond with the candidates than in years past. Jennifer B., 48, who declined giving her full name, said she felt a “strong connection” to Democratic primary hopeful Sen. Barack Obama.

“I just feel that if he were my president and asked me to do something, I would do it,” she said.

Other female voters latched onto Sen. Hillary Clinton, expressing the belief it was time for another kind of minority, a woman, to hold office. Jean B., a 70-year-old music executive, who declined to give her full name, voted for Clinton because she felt was Clinton was “strong enough to fight the dirty tricks that Republicans use.”

In short, the 2008 primary allowed female voters to experience a palpably strong connection to the candidates, one that has been arguably missing in years past.