President Barack Obama told an anecdote about September 11 during Monday night’s presidential debate that seemed to polarize the sexes.
“What if the prime minister of Israel called you on the phone and said, ‘Our bombers are on the way. We’re going to bomb Iran?'” moderator Bob Schieffer asked.
“You know, after we killed Bin Laden, I was at ground zero for a memorial and talked to a young woman who was four years old when 9/11 happened,” Obama responded, “and the last conversation she had with her father was him calling from the twin towers.”
According to CNN’s on-screen display, its panel of undecided voters in Florida showed a spike in female approval during this story. But during the same time, male voters’ approval dropped — even dipping into the “disapproval” territory at one point.
Monday’s debate took place at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. It was the third and final debate in an election season marked by both candidates’ attempts to woo female voters.