Single Women, What Was Your First Time Like?

Posted by Myrna the Minx on October 19, 2006 | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Women’s Voices. Women Vote has put out some terrific ads. See below:

Thanks to that crazy German Sven over at Turn Tahoe Blue for the heads up on Women’s Voices. Women Vote, an organization working to increase the percentage of unmarried women who vote. Unmarried women are one of the fastest-growing large demographics in the country, making up 46 percent of all voting age women, a group that could have a considerable impact on the 2006 elections. And from their responses on a recent Greenberg poll, they favor Democratic candidates. From the WVWV website:

The “marriage gap” is one of the most important dynamics in 21st Century politics, and refers to the trend that unmarried citizens register and vote less often than their married counterparts. Though unmarried women did increase their share of the electorate from 19 percent in 2000 to 22.4 percent in 2004 (according to exit polls), 20 million unmarried women still did not vote in 2004; 19 million unmarried men sat on the sidelines in 2004.

A new Greenberg poll found that unmarried women are cynical about politics and government and they question their ability to impact the political process. Sixty-one percent of unmarried women believe that most elected officials “don’t care what people like me think” and 71 percent of unmarried women believe “elected officials in Washington lose touch with the people pretty quickly.”

What is wrong with single people? I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we are a nation focused on marriage–gay marriage, heterosexual marriage, tax breaks for marriage, etc. Political discussions and ads tend to focus on how candidates and legislation affect families–is it any wonder single women (and men) vote less often than their married counterparts? Single women and men tend to be more economically marginal and less connected to their communities and nearly half of single women respondents (49 percent) believe that if they don’t know anything about the candidates, they should not vote.

If only that were the case with the kind of voters who decide not to vote for someone because of their accent.