Barack Obama makes a lot of folks swoon…maybe even a few behind the burka as he lands in Afghanistan today. But it seems like older women are so far resisting his charms. Obama advisors told a Congressional caucus a few weeks ago that disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters should just "get over it." (That didn't go down too well with a few attendees, including California Rep. Diane Watson.) Now, according to a new poll from Pew Research, it seems like Obama is still not successfully wooing older women voters. From Pew:

Whether female voters, who largely favored Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, will give broad support to Barack Obama this fall remains a key to the outcome of the election. The latest survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that Obama is, in fact, performing quite well among this key voting bloc, largely as the result of his substantial lead among politically independent and younger women. However, a significant numbers of older women, especially those who backed Clinton for the Democratic nomination, are not yet ready to throw their support behind Obama.

In particular, he currently polls considerably worse than his predecessors among all women age 65 or older. About one-third (35%) in this group support Obama, while 42% support McCain. In June 2000, Gore enjoyed a 53%-to-36% lead among women over 65, while in June 2004, Kerry held a more modest 48%-to-43% lead. Currently, nearly one-quarter of women 65 and older (23%) remain undecided about whom to support or say they will vote for another candidate, more than double the share that said that was the case at this point in 2004 (9%) and 2000 (11%).

Even among older women voters who identify themselves as Democrats, significant numbers have yet to declare their support for their party's presumptive nominee. While Obama has a solid 69%-to-12% advantage over McCain among Democratic women over 50, nearly one-in-five (19%) remain undecided or would vote for another candidate. By comparison, just 4% of older Democratic men are undecided.

Is it that older women are more immune to charm? Or just that it takes lots more than charm for change we can believe in?

–Elaine L.