A report from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women released yesterday found that when it comes to political representation, earnings, and access to higher education, women are still short-changed in Massachusetts.
First came the soccer moms, with their SUVs and school-age children, and then the security moms, concerned about terrorism. Now there is a new group of women that campaigners say politicians should reach out to: the single, divorced and widowed.
The headline is brief: Democrats win. The subtext is powerful: Women rule!
Nearly 50 million strong, they span all ages, races, religions and years of schooling, but only now have America's unmarried women emerged as a surprisingly unified voting bloc.
WASHINGTON -- Women were a key reason that Democrats will control Congress next year - and their message was that lawmakers should stop bickering and deal with the Iraq war and economic issues, analysts said Monday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A survey says Democrat Claire McCaskill got a big boost from single women who voted in the U.S. Senate race last week. The survey found that 61 percent of the 400,000 single women who voted in the race picked McCaskill over Republican incumbent Jim Talent.
That accounts for a 100,000-vote edge for McCaskill in a race that she won by fewer than 50,000 votes. About 19 percent of those who voted in Missouri last week were single women.
Forty-five percent of married women and 41 percent of married men voted for McCaskill. The poll also found 57 percent of unmarried men voted for McCaskill.
The survey was done by the voter-education project Women's Voices, Women Vote in 12 states. The Missouri numbers are based on exit polls conducted of 2,400 voters.
By Rick Montgomery
Today's Star reported that Claire McCaskill owes her Senate victory to lopsided support she garnered from unmarried voters, especially women.
It didn't happen by chance, as the Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus -- which endorsed McCaskill -- now weighs in with some insights on how single women locally were urged to get out and vote.
Start with a list of some 32,000 single women ages 18 to 45 in Jackson, Platte and Clay counties. These happen to be "drop off voters," those inclined to cast their ballots for president but not in midterm elections.
(The list itself is political gold. Research from the 2004 elections showed that single women were more apt than married women to favor "progressive" change and Democratic candidates -- but far less apt to vote at all.)
Commit $30,000 just for postage. Find a couple of women in their 20s to write and design mailings saying, without naming candidates, "This is your chance to make a difference" and offering free rides to the polls.
Send out, oh, 93,000 postcards in all. Just before Election Day. Absentee-ballot mailings, too. And fliers about the minimum wage and how stem-cell research could help kids in wheelchairs.
"Some people thought we wouldn't have the money to pull it off -- too big of an effort," reports the group's executive director, Tamara Morris. "We thought it was worth it and would make the difference."
"We were right."
The ad was seductive, and meant to be: seven women, all Hollywood stars, talking about "My First Time."
"I did a lot of research on the positions I liked," actress Angie Harmon said.
No wonder Rush was scared.
After running the brilliant "Remember Your First Time" GOTV campaign aimed at single women , Women's Voices. Women Vote. is reporting that single women were the single largest change-voters in the country.
MARRIAGE HAS its perks. If you believe the surveys, being married means you have sex more often than your single sisters.
You're also more likely to do the right thing and vote today.
The number of young female voters is steadily rising. But will it make a difference on Tuesday?
With Republican control of Congress hanging in the balance, this is a critical election year -- and young women voters (YWVs) could be the deciding factor. Midterm elections traditionally suffer from low voter turnout, and this year turnout numbers are the game.
CHICAGO (WOMENSENEWS)--Many of the dozen women who met in Beth Kanter's living room on the north side of Chicago last month know each other socially and even, to a degree, politically.
Women voters, notably married moms, are turning away from the Republican Party in the run-up to the congressional elections due, in part, to dissatisfaction with the Iraq war and domestic issues.