Legal Commentary

A Voter Subset Ignored So Far?

By Jeralyn

We've seen the candidates appeal to old voters, young voters, female voters in general, Hispanic and African American voters, rural voters, and just about every other demographic there is. Have they overlooked anyone? Apparently, yes. Unmarried Women.

A new poll will be released next week. Shorter version: Candidates Need to Reach Across the Marriage Gap. I just received this e-mailed press release:

Unmarried Women Expected to Vote in Record Numbers in ’08; Rank the Economy as #1 Concern But Don’t Hear Their Needs Reflected in Candidates’ Plans

More...

Stan Greenberg and Anna Greenberg of Greenberg, Qunilan, Rosner Research will release a new poll Tuesday demonstrating a significant gap between married and unmarried women in how they view the candidates, the issues, and the choices America faces.

While both groups prioritize economic issues, unmarried women say they are not hearing their real-life needs from candidates , including pay equity, a higher minimum wage, and paid family leave – addressed by any of the candidates.

With a population now equal in size to that of married women (53 million), unmarried women make up 26% of the electorate, yet in the past have been 13 percentage points less likely to register and 9 percentage points less likely to vote.

But according to the poll, this year unmarried women are likely to vote at nearly the same levels as married women.

So, the question is, which candidate offers more to unmarried women? Do they differ in any significant way?

As to the graphic, I loved this movie back in the 70's -- I probably watched it five times. The cheating husband saying he met his new fling buying a shirt at Bloomingdales (she worked there), how Jill Clayburgh threw up on the street when he told her, the lower Manhattan art scene at the time, Alan Bates as the very sexy new boyfriend, the dumb "Charlie", the girlfriend in their gang of four who so matter- of- factly describes how lithium has taken away her highs -- anyway, if you haven't ever seen it, I highly recommend it.

As for whether Hillary or Obama should make a pitch specifically to this group, I highly recommend that too.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 09, 2008 (boomark / email).