3 Out of 5 Back Woman President : Believe She Would Handle Job as Well as Man, Poll Finds

WASHINGTON — Nearly three out of five voters believe that a woman would handle the job of President as well as or better than a man, according to a national poll released Wednesday by the National Women’s Political Caucus.

In a recent survey of 1,502 registered voters, 49% said that a woman would do as well as a man in the Oval Office, 8% said she would do better, 31% said worse and 12% were undecided.

The 31% resistance level was down significantly from three years ago, when 60% of voters said they thought a woman would “have more problems” being President than a man would. The 1984 survey was taken several months before Geraldine A. Ferraro became the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Ferraro Candidacy Cited

Democratic pollster Harrison Hickman, who, with Republican pollster Linda DiVall, conducted the new survey, attributed the drop in resistance to three factors: the Ferraro candidacy got people “used to the idea” of a woman running for high office, voters “have had more experience with women political leaders” since 1984 and the questions in the two polls were worded differently.

Wording differences may explain why a recent Gallup poll suggested an even greater acceptance of female presidential candidates than the poll released Wednesday. In the Gallup survey, 82% said they would vote for a woman if she were their party’s presidential nominee, up from 52% in 1958.

Irene Natividad, leader of the National Women’s Political Caucus, asserted that several key findings in the latest poll show that Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) has some advantages that she could exploit in her exploratory bid for President.

The survey found that, for the first time, voters see women as more capable than men at “holding the line” on government spending. Women were also perceived as doing better with social issues but not as well with technical issues such as foreign trade, military spending, agriculture and arms control.

For Schroeder, “this means there is an electorate out there that she ought to target that is predisposed toward a woman candidate,” Natividad said. “She has a natural advantage in the domestic social issues, where she has been a leader.” And, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, “she has the advantage of expertise in a technical area” widely viewed as the domain of men.

‘Coalition Out There’

“I don’t think there’s any question that there’s a coalition out there waiting to be put together for a woman candidate,” Hickman said.

About the same ratio of men and women in the survey cast the 57% vote of confidence for a woman as President. However, the voters were much more comfortable with a woman as governor (70%), U.S. senator (74%) or school board member (86%).

The groups least resistant to a woman presidential candidate included Democrats, blacks, city residents, voters under 60 and unmarried voters. The most resistance came from voters outside of urban areas, those over 60, Southern white women, voters with less than a college education and those working in other than white-collar jobs.

“Older voters, who are more biased against women candidates, are leaving the electorate, whether they like it or not,” Hickman said. “And they’re being replaced by younger voters who are more supportive of women candidates. Also, as more and more women run, win and serve, people who are in the electorate are changing their minds.”

The survey found also that substantial majorities of voters prefer candidates who are endorsed by women’s groups and who support such “concerns of women” as the equal rights amendment to the Constitution and the right to an abortion.

Held More Compassionate

By clear pluralities, female candidates were identified more often than men as being compassionate, speaking honestly on issues, standing up for their beliefs, being moral, being more liberal and working out compromises.

On the other hand, male candidates were perceived more often than women as being tough, able to handle a crisis, emotionally stable and decisive.

A plurality of women said they were conservative, but they were slightly less conservative and slightly less Republican than men.

The survey results have a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.