| REGISTER TO WIN | |
 |
A new sought-after voting bloc is emerging in American politics: People like me — unmarried women voters.
Pollsters have recently discovered that this country has more than 53 million unmarried women of voting age. That’s more than a quarter of the electorate, encompassing more potential voters than many of the usual highly sought after groups, including seniors, racial minorities and union members.
“(U)nmarried women may play the same role for Democrats in 2008 that white evangelicals played for George Bush and the Republicans in 2004,” said a study by Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research. More than 20 million unmarried women did not vote in 2004. Capture their votes and take the oath of office, or so goes the theory.
Thanks for noticing, fellas.
But let’s slow down before putting on these women’s foreheads a label that couldn’t possibly capture the wide range among unmarried women voters. A young woman just out of high school, a career woman new to her profession, a divorced 40-something, a widow in her 80s — all could fit.
Some headline writers and pundits were quick to label this group the “Sex and the City” voters. Nice TV show, but the “Sex and the City” girls curiously never seem to work, yet are able to splurge on shopping daily and eating out nightly in New York City — and never seem to gain an ounce of weight. Not reality.
The “single, anxious female” is how a senior strategist for Hillary Clinton’s campaign terms unmarried women, noting their angst about money. She is right on; two incomes often do make life easier.
Money, or strains about it, is the taboo subject between many a married woman and her unmarried girlfriend. Mrs. Married often will complain about bills, the mortgage, car trouble and so forth, and her unmarried friend will nod and grit her teeth, knowing she is burdened with the same things, but with the resources of only one salary.
But don’t point this out too explicitly, candidates. Women, to their detriment, do not like to admit money woes. So a candidate who speaks to single women as distress cases is likely to chase away their votes, not court them. Convince a single woman that you could possibly do something about her financial situation and you might get a vote, but you’d have to break down some of society’s myths about marriage along the way.
The institution of marriage has changed significantly over the past 30 years. A majority of women are now unmarried. Most people, 90 percent, marry at some point in their lives, but they are spending more of their lives single. And they live longer — especially women, who are more likely to outlive spouses and wind up in the unmarried category as widows. And, yes, people cohabitate, often forming lifelong bonds, minus the religious or civil ceremony.
Yet laws and policies often presume that marriage is the default condition in life. And that can make life more difficult for the single. Imagine the allure of a candidate who would candidly speak to tax disparities among married and single people, or to the situation of singles who don’t have the option of health-care coverage through a spouse, or to the way education in America is structured around the assumption of two-parent families, with one available at home.
Most women of voting age were raised with a few pixie dust-laden ideas that a magical kiss would produce Prince Charming, complete with a nice house and a bulging 401K. But we unmarried women are much less likely to view marriage as a solution to our problems — especially as we have watched our married counterparts (or possibly ourselves) sink financially after a divorce.
Unmarried women, experts say, are far more likely to believe they need a network of support systems — family, friends, employers, private agencies and, yes, government — for their worlds to run efficiently. Hillary Clinton got this part right when she touted the African proverb, “It takes a village.…”
The Greenberg study found that 78 percent of unmarried women believe the country is on the wrong track. That is a lot of skepticism for candidates to mine. The study also suggests that unmarried women, in a departure from the past, are now more interested in voting than married women.
As anyone can attest who has ever watched a bargain-seeking woman plow through a sale rack, women will go to great lengths if they know the effort will bring value to their lives. Candidates who convince women their platforms are worth the effort just might earn a valuable token of an unmarried woman’s love: her vote.
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.