February 6, 2008 8:06AM

The Economic Factors in Polls

By Alexis Glick

It’s just past 10 p.m. and I’ve been sitting in the Green Room of Fox News’s Election Headquarters. I was scheduled to talk about the economy between 9:30 and 10 p.m. I arrived around 8 p.m. so that I could watch the exit polls in many of the states that began closing at 8 p.m. The thing about television, particularly on a night like Super Tuesday, is that a hit time is never exact. Television, especially breaking news television is fluid. That’s what makes breaking news so riveting. You don’t know what to expect next.

As I watch the coverage (our coverage) I’ve had time to talk to many of our other guests. Laura Ingraham, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Sean Hannity and Jamie Colby. The set that we built for our election coverage is stunning! It’s huge and there is so much going on. It’s somewhat intimidating. So many brilliant minds in one room. I’m feeling like the C student among too many A students Between delegates, superdelegates, votes based on district, some states with a winner take all and others based on percentage of vote, it’s a complicated business. A fascinating one, too. I LOVE this stuff. Plus, who doesn’t like getting smarter?

Oh…it’s my turn. Time to go do my thing. Pray for me.

Just finished. It’s 11:20 p.m. Talked to Brit Hume. He’s awesome. So smart. So smooth. The whole crew (on and off air) has been terrific. I’m so impressed!

So what did I talk about? The economic factors in the polls. Why Hillary getting the female vote matters. Most of the women in the household make the discretionary-income decisions and she clearly is speaking to them. Most agree Hillary does have the most detailed economic, housing and tax plans. If she can talk to women, in dual-income households where they’re making on average $50-60,000 a year, that makes a difference.

McCain is doing very well with voters on the economy, I think in some measure because of the recent endorsements from Rudy Giuliani and Steve Forbes. He has been attacked about flip flopping on tax cuts and admitted in past interviews that he is not as knowledgeable about the economy as he is about the War on Terror. As Brit pointed out, don’t forget Jack Kemp’s endorsement.

Romney has to get back to the basics of his economic knowledge and experience but in a grass-roots strategy. I wonder if and how he’ll do that. It worked in Michigan. Now he needs to translate that across the country.

For Obama, it appears many voters are seeing past the details and focusing on the message. That’s working, but if he gets the nomination, he has to get more specific. To his credit, he called for a meeting of the financial minds back in March of 2007. He asked for Bernanke, Paulson and elected officials to devise a plan to prevent or soften the blow of the housing malaise. Huckabee is surprising everyone! No money, a great deal of charisma and the hard core Evangelicals are betting on him especially in the South.

It’s just past midnight time to close my eyes. Anxious to see the difference in the delegate count for Obama and Clinton!!!