Clinton, Obama Make Push for the Neglected White Male Voter

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary visits Chrysler Plant in Toldeo, Ohio at shift change.

Those questions?

"How many white men will declare in public that race and gender make no difference but behave differently in private?" Galston suggests. Obama or Clinton would labor under a burden of proof with this group, Galston says. But if white men begin to have second thoughts about the war or are not experiencing any gains from the economy, they might decide it's time for a Democrat. On the other hand, the Republican Party doesn't even necessarily need to tout the male-white-voter-friendly biography of McCain because that's just who he is, says Bowman of AEI. "In the end, I think men will be more drawn to McCain than Obama just because of his strong profile, but it's premature."

Although there are significant benefits to winning the white male vote, many within the Democratic Party find it difficult to devise a strategy around or even talk about the white male vote, says David "Mudcat" Saunders, who has been a senior strategist for Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, Sen. Jim Webb, and John Edwards.

"It is a naughty word," Saunders says. "I can't tell you the number of meetings I've been in with Democratic political operatives and workers and start talking about the white vote...you'll see people looking at each other...'Jesus, what is this guy talking about?' "

But Saunders, a white Virginian and self-proclaimed hillbilly, has talked about it and targeted white men successfully in the campaigns he's worked on in the South. "The Reagan Democrats are looking for a place to go. They want to come home," says Saunders. "Are we going to invite them? That's the question."

In the past when he worked for Warner, he got the candidate's name displayed on a NASCAR racecar and urged bluegrass great Dr. Ralph Stanley to endorse the Virginian gubernatorial candidate. He also did the unheard of by sponsoring a hunting and fishing show that drew 7,000 people over two days, effectively playing down the Democrats' gun control stance. "Inside every Republican rural white male, there's a Democrat trying to get out," says Saunders. "We just don't go after them." Saunders says it's simply a matter of respecting rural culture and actually campaigning in those areas.

Without a nominee, it's too early to tell exactly how the Democrats plan to attract white men and make inroads in the "white male gap." But if Edwards's spirit begins to creep into the nominee's speeches or if the nominee speaks of jobs more and guns less, it's for the support of the white guy. And if the Democrats make an effort to target white men by focusing on issues important to them, Saunders thinks they will have a good chance of winning the White House.

"You know what happens when candidates target white males?" Saunders asks. "They win."