White women remain firmly in the Clinton camp

Sen. Obama has watched his support from white women grow from 19 percent last December to 40 percent this month, but those gains have come, in part, from the shrinking of the Democratic field, and not at the expense of Sen. Clinton.  The Times calls white women Clinton's "most loyal base of support," and their support for her has actually grown since last December, from 48 percent then to 51 percent now. 

On NBC's "Today Show," former Clinton White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers explained the conundrum facing the New York senator.  "Hillary Clinton's options are limited in many ways because she's a woman," said Myers. "It's difficult for her to get angry; it's difficult for her to be sarcastic; when she gets tough, she sounds like a scold; and I think we have a different standard for how women can approach going negative, getting tough, and making their point than we do for men."

Clinton's support among white women was on vivid display the past week, starting with Saturday Night Live host Tina Fey's on-air endorsement of Clinton during the show's live broadcast of its "Weekend Update" segment. Responding to the criticism that Clinton is a "bitch," Fey tried to turn a perceived negative into a positive.

"Yeah, she is," said Fey. "And so am I -- and so is this one over here," gesturing at co-host Amy Poehler. "Bitches get things done," Fey said.  Then, in a direct appeal to voters in upcoming primaries, Fey said "it's not too late, Texas and Ohio, get on board! Bitch is the new black!"

Not as vulgar but just as supportive was Ellen Degeneres, who appeared with the candidate via satellite at a campaign event on Monday. Echoing a common refrain from Clinton's own words, Degeneres said, "That's what I like about you. I like that you have solutions. You're a problem solver!"

Both Clinton and Degeneres acknowledged that the race ahead would be tough and Degeneres offered to beam into other campaign appearances for the senator if it would help her campaign.