Women Voters Matter

If you think men decide elections, you’re mistaken. Historical data shows us that since 1980 women turn out to vote in greater numbers than men. In 2008, 65.7 percent of eligible women voted compared to 61.5 percent of men. Accordingly, female voters across the political spectrum expect to influence the next presidential election and they expect genuine attention to their concerns. Politicians should not take female voters for granted.

President Obama, who enjoys a double-digit lead among female voters, recently said that “women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. . . . Women are over half this country and its workforce.”

When you talk about female voters, you need to be specific about which women you mean. White, married, rural and suburban women have been trending Republican for years. In fact, white women as a whole haven’t gone Democratic since 1964. While for single, highly educated and urban women, the opposite is true; those remain reliably Democratic demographics. Don’t make the mistake of thinking women vote together.

Here are some things to consider.

·         Don’t play the gender card.  Don’t expect women to vote for female candidates just because they are women.

·         Most women are turned off by negative ads, name-calling and unyielding partisanship in the political process.

·         Recent poll of voters in swing states showed that women’s top priorities are health care, gas prices, unemployment and the deficit — in that order — with “government policies toward contraception” coming in last.

·         Women don’t vote solely based on women’s issues such as abortion rights and contraception.

How women feel about access to contraceptives seems to have more to do with party affiliation than gender according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey conducted last month. Fewer than 1 percent of respondents mentioned women’s health or birth control as top election-year issues.

 The perception that Republicans are waging a “war on women” has undeniably boosted the focus on GOP’s policies on repealing wage discrimination laws, on failure to support extension of violence against women legislation, and on a record of 916 pieces of legislation restricting female reproductive choice since 2011.

Women Matter...don't take their votes for granted.

Posted in: 2012 Elections,Culture,Politics,The Emerald Quill,Women Voters