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Democrats seek single women
19/10/2004 11:57 - (SA)
Washington - If George W Bush believes that the evangelists who did not vote in 2000 could win him this year's election, for John Kerry the "Sex and the City" women could carry him into the White House.
About 22 million single women, whose group title comes from the title of the successful television show, did not vote in the 2000 election.
Democrat strategists are trying to unlock the secret of getting them to cast a ballot for their candidate on November 2.
The Democrats have been using superstar actress Sharon Stone at many recent rallies.
Stone has been highlighting the Iraq war and praising Kerry's promises to rebuild international alliances, but also the importance of taking part in the election.
Stone: 'Let's choose our president, ladies'
"Ladies, we're not a minority anymore," said Stone in one speech last week in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. "We make up 54% of the population, so for the first time in history we have the possibility to choose our next president."
Deborah Walsh, director of the Centre for American Women and Politics at Rutger University in New Jersey, is sceptical that the "Sex in the City" group exists.
"Single women are everything from 18 to 88, white, Afro-American, Latinos. There is not a single message for them or a single issue or a way to mobilise them as a group."
But women in general do make up the biggest number of undecided voters that are at the heart of the US election campaign, which Walsh says does make them a force.
"Because it is a close race, this small group of undecided, will be the one deciding the outcome of this election and the majority of these undecided voters are women," said Walsh.
"We are looking at the potential power here of women having a major role in deciding the outcome of this election."
According to a Pew Research Centre survey, women make up 62% of undecided voters and 63% of swing voters who move from one party to another.
Bush 'security moms'
"The coming election is one of the most important in contemporary women's lives," said Martha Burk, head of the National Council of Women's Organisations, using the same poll research.
The Republican president still gets more support from women than Kerry. His campaign says that the initial 'W' stands for women. Most experts say it has been because of his tough national security policies.
They call his female supporters the "security moms" - white married mothers in the suburbs of major US cities.
But a recent survey by the Business and Professional Women's Foundation (BPW) said that while women "worry about national security and the war, economic issues are very high on the agenda."
Eighty-six percent said they were worried about health costs, 80% about their retirement, 71% about their jobs while 66% gave education and their children as their main political concern. Only 49% listed national security.
"The winner of the presidential election will be the candidate who convinces these women that they will do the better job in addressing the country's economic future," said Patricia Cornish, head of the BPW Foundation.
"Right now undecided women voters are unhappy with where we are but are not sure the challenger offers a clear, better alternative."
- AFP
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