Here are some frightening statistics (mostly from
USA Today and Gallup):
- In 1950, one-third of women ages 15 and older were unmarried; now nearly half are.
- In 2000, 22 million unmarried women who were eligible to vote did not do so.
The problem appears to be that single women, as a bloc, feel as if their voices aren't being heard or that the candidates are not addressing their needs. As a result of this feeling, they aren't voting.
Maybe dailyKos isn't the best place to ask this and I'm not trying to be rude, but what do these women want? Seriously. What is stopping an unmarried female voter from voting? I'm not even thinking about who they might be voting for, but why aren't they voting at all?
Lots more below the fold...
I'm a married female who decided to vote for [Kerry] on November 8, 2000, so I'm trying to understand why my sister females aren't voting and what I can do to change that. The reason I ask is that if just a fraction of those 22 million unmarried women were to vote, the odds are overwhelming that they would vote Democratic. According to the above-mentioned USA Today article, the "marriage gap" is +25 points in favor of Kerry among unmarried women. (Further proof to the radical right, no doubt, that the Democrats are selfish hedonists, but I digress...) They are 3.5 the number of NASCAR dads, double the number of soccer moms and larger than the Jewish and Latino blocs combined.
I recently saw a segment on CNN Headline News. It was late at night and I can't find a transcript or video of it anywhere. I believe I saw it on the second night of the GOP Convention, but I know it was Headline News. In any case, it was a segment done in NYC during the convention where a reporter took a group of undecided female voters to a sidewalk cafe for a "Sex and The City" moment to talk about why they aren't voting. The four women looked like they were all under the age of 35 and they were single. At least one of them had a kid in a stroller. Here's what I remember of the segment (I'm paraphrasing the quotes):
- One woman, a lawyer, said she wasn't "hearing what I want to hear from the candidates. They aren't addressing my issues."
- Another woman said that "it takes a lot of effort to really understand all the issues and where the candidates stand. That's just not what I want to do with my life right now."
- One of the women noted that she "didn't pay much attention before, but now hearing that I'm part of 22 million and it's such a close race, maybe I should."
I'd have to think about how to respond to a woman who said "that's just not what I want to do with my life right now," as my initial reaction would no doubt be insulting and therefore not productive. My first reaction to the lawyer's statement was "Have you read the candidate's web sites?" and I really wish she'd said what issues concerned her. The journalist didn't do a great job of getting to the bottom of why these women feel this way, but I guess I'm not surprised at that.
The Washington Times had an article in which reporter Amy Fagan wrote that female voters are key to winning the election and "how they vote could depend on whether President Bush can convince them that his fight against terrorism overseas ultimately is meant to secure their offices, shopping malls and schools at home." In the same article, Republican pollster David Winston said that female voters are "trying to understand the connection between the war in Iraq and the war on terror." (BTW, I find that entire concept to be insulting to all women.) Some Republican pollsters argue that Bush needs to stress that the war is all about the liberation of Muslim women...eek!
From CNNFN's The Flipside, 5/24/04:
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Some call them the "Sex in the City" demographic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you saying you've never voted in New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are correct, Mr. President.
CHO: Others, lipstick liberals. Jennifer DeMatteo, fits the ballot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you vote?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just registered so I haven't voted in a while. So I have to admit, I haven't voted in a while.
CHO: DeMatteo, isn't alone. She's young, single, successful and doesn't vote.
CHO: Is it scary to think about politics?
JENNIFER DEMATTEO, NEWLY REGISTERED VOTER: It's not scary, it's boring. It's confusing. It's boring.
CHO (on camera): New studies by several universities's found just one in five women under 30 regularly goes to the polls. Experts say most are skipping elections and instead are casing careers and looking for love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How am I going to meet him?
KELLYANNE CONWAY, POLITICAL POLLSTER: Women who have the what we call the four magic Ms, marriage, munchkins, mortgages and mutual funds are much more likely to vote than they're unmarried, not stake holding, not non- ownership counterparts.
CHO (voice over): Perhaps no one knows better the importance of voting than Karenna Gore Schiff, her father Al Gore lost Florida ultimately the presidency, in 2000 by a mere 537 votes.
KARENNA GORE SCHIFF, DAUGHTER, AL GORE: Candidates will to swing states and they'll go to senior centers and there's a reason for that. That's who will decide the election, because they're out there voting. If young women do the same thing they can really change the direction of the country.
CONWAY: Pretend it's a hair appointment, we would not miss. Maybe make an appointment with Election Day and get there.
CHO: DeMatteo, lived in Florida in 2000, could have voted, but didn't. Now she says the war in Iraq is pushing her to the polls.
DEMATTEO: It only needs to be one thing that you say, hey, this is something I care about. And then if nothing else, focus on that and . . . Register. And vote.
CHO: A giant step towards having a voice. Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
DeMatteo's remarks about politics being "boring" were interesting. I admit, it isn't a rave party. Personally, I found Ms. Kellyanne Conway's remarks about "non-stake holding" and "hair appointments" to be offensive, but I'm not the demographic she's talking about. Her polling company found that 23% of female voters don't vote because they are dissatisfied with the political process. They also found that these potential voters are likely to be younger than 35, unmarried, self-described "liberals" who would likely vote for Kerry...and 22 million of them didn't vote in 2000!
Both the Democrats and the Republicans are targeting female voters. They both have their fair share of stumpers among wives and children. The Democrats just launched the "Just Ask A Woman: A National Report on Women in America" (dumb slogan, IMO). The Republicans have the "W Stands for Women" program and are hoping that the "comp-time" idea will appeal to working mothers. (Nevermind that it's really a ploy to avoid paying overtime.) They can point to Elaine Chao (first Asian-American cabinet member) and Condoleeza Rice (not a shining example of woman-hood, but okay...). On the register-to-vote front, some organizations are offering manicures, political "beauty kits", thongs, jewelry and other trinkets to entice women to become involved.
I don't think it's just about abortion anymore. If abortion really is your "Issue", then the choice is pretty clear. Same for same-sex marriages. I'm all for same-sex marriage and Kerry is not, but I'm over that because I know it isn't his nut to crack...and so does he. It would be a mistake for either party to assume that these are the pressing issues for women in this election, although for some, abortion or same-sex marriage is enough. Personally, I could give a shit less about my shopping mall and care more about my nephews, nieces and cousins being sent off to war, justifiable or not. I care more about our standing in the world and access to health care than I do about whether or not the President has a bible in his pocket.
I've done some volunteering to register people to vote. On a college campus in San Francisco, most of those are first-time voters, female or otherwise. That's all good, but we all know that California isn't the battleground. My knee-jerk, cynical reaction as to why they aren't voting in the first place is because they aren't paying attention to something that's really important in their lives. However, that kind of argument doesn't win anyone over. Although I'm under 35, I'm married and all my single girlfriends are solidly for Kerry and do vote.
So, I'd really like to know: What would inspire these young women to vote? Do you know any young, unmarried females who aren't voting or are undecided? What are they waiting to hear? Is it really all about hair appointments, thongs and cheap jewelry?