Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fight for the female vote is growing as spirited as ever with only hours remaining before final votes are tabulated in New Hampshire.

According to Yahoo Politics, Clinton's campaign continues to struggle to attract the level of female support she and her supporters seem to have anticipated. Heavyweight allies Gloria Steinem and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright both recently made comments about women who have pledged allegiance to Sanders.

The two took exception with the throngs of female voters who have been turning out at rallies for the Vermont senator, suggesting these women are doing themselves and history a disservice by not rallying around what would be the nation's first female commander-in-chief.

The Fight for the Female Vote

"When you're young, you're thinking, 'Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie,'" Steinem told talk show host Bill Maher in explaining why so many women seem to gravitate toward Sanders.

"There's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other," Yahoo reports Albright added at a recent rally in New Hampshire.

While Sanders hasn't directly commented on the mounting controversy, his wife Jane recently told Yahoo she finds it "ridiculous" any voter would be belittled in such a way simply because they have concluded her husband is the superior candidate.

Many female voters seem to agree.

"Well, I don't want to think that I have to vote for a woman, being a woman, because there's a woman running," Cokie Giles, a registered nurse in Bangor, Maine told Yahoo.

"They have to be who I would look at as ... my best choice," Giles added. "I'm not trashing Hillary. I'm just saying Bernie is the better of the choices."

Eileen Frazier, an attorney who attended a recent rally for Sanders in Massachusetts, was even more outraged.

"Shame on Albright," she said. "You mean women don't have a brain, Gloria? I'm for Bernie because Bernie represents the people, not special interests. I certainly would never vote for Hillary just because she's a woman. That's insulting to my intellect."

Sanders Holding on in New Hampshire

Despite all the back and forth, Sanders appears to be picking up steam. After losing the female vote to Clinton in Iowa by 11 points, a CNN/WMUR New Hampshire Primary Poll finds he now leads her 53 to 42 percent among women there. The survey also finds women between 18-34 favor him by a staggering 87 to 9 percent margin. Overall, a CNN Poll of Polls finds him leading Clinton in New Hampshire 54 to 40 percent.

In addition, some now even argue his endless cries to end income inequality among the genders make him every bit the feminist Clinton has shown herself to be. On The Issues has also reported Sanders has a history of being a pro-choice advocate and has long fought for funding to preserve family planning resources.

The Washington Post reports such talk now has Clinton tweaking some of her campaign speeches to put a keener focus on her advocacy for women. She is also reportedly trying to make amends for the possible damage caused by the words of some of her most well known supporters.

"I think what she was trying to do -- what she's done in every setting I've ever seen her in going back 20-plus years -- was to remind young women, particularly, that you know, this struggle, which many of us have been part of, is not over, and don't be in any way lulled by the progress we've made," she said of Albright in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Just the same, Clinton has been able to win the endorsements of such key and influential women's rights organizations as the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the National Organization for Women, Emily's List, NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Feminist Majority Foundation, where foundation president Eleanor Smeal launched the She Wins We Win campaign on Clinton's behalf.

Meanwhile, Steinhem has since taken to Facebook to apologize for her comments.

Related