Foreign policy debate: candidates set to spar as polls tied - US politics live The average 9-point lead Obama holds among women plus the average 9-point lead Romney holds among men appears to point to one of the largest gender gaps in history, 538 pollster Nate Silver writes. In presidential elections since 1972, according to Silver's data, the gender gap of 18 between Obama and Romney was exceeded only once, in 2000, when a 20-point split opened between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Gore enjoyed an 11-point advantage among women, while Bush was up 9 points among men. Note that the "gender gap" takes into account the candidates' relative performances with both men and women, as opposed to one candidate's simple lead among only women or among only men. One interesting tidbit from Silver's chart: which president, in which election, do you think opened up the biggest-ever lead among women? The year was 1996, the opponent was Bob Dole and the candidate was Bill Clinton, who got out to +16 with women. No other candidate since 1972 has gotten past +14 with women, and that was Nixon in one of the most lopsided races in history against the late George McGovern, may he rest in peace. But look at Ronald Reagan in 1984. It was another lopsided election, but even so the Gipper's +25 lead among men (+12 among women) is astounding. He might as well have had bumper stickers, "Men Vote Reagan."