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wm mmmm I 8A NEWS/tEte Charlotte Thursday, January 15, 2004 Single women may detide the2004etecdons By Allison Stevens WOMEN'S E-NEWS WASHINGTON - Are sin gle women the soccer moms of 2004? That’s what some national Democrats are bet ting on as they gear up for this year’s presidential elec tion. Democratic activists are basing their convictions on a study of unmarried women released late last month that showed that single women are more progressive than the average voter but are less likely to vote in national elections. Democrats con tend that if they could reverse that trend and per suade more single women to go to the polls on Election Day, they could tap into a gold mine of new supporters and tilt what is now regard ed as a difficult race for the White House in their favor. ‘Tf unmarried women voted at the same rate as married women, they would have a decisive impact on this election and could be the most important agents of change in modem politics,” said Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster who con ducted the survey and is chair of Washington-based Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who con ducted the study with Greenberg, agreed. ‘TJnmarried women repre sent millions more voters with very clear concerns about the economy, health care and education,” said Lake, president of Washington-based Lake SneU Perrj^ and Associates, Inc. ‘They want big changes and a more progressive agenda that addresses their economic worries most of all.” Greenberg and Lake polled more than 1,000 unmarried women — defined as those under 65 who never married or who are divorced, vid- owed or separated —between Oct. 23 and Nov. 19, 2003. The respondents crossed racial, economic, and geo graphical boundaries and included women with and without children. The survey showed that single women could have changed the outcome of the protracted presidential elec tion in 2000 had they voted at the same rate as married women. Nationwide, 68 per cent of married women voted in the 2000 presidential elec tions, according to the sur vey. But only 52 percent of single women voted - a phe nomenon that sucked some 6 million potential voters out of a contest that hinged on a little more than half a mil lion votes. In the pivotal state of Florida, single women may have been able to turn what was a nail-biter into a land slide if they had voted at the same rate as the average voter in that state. Fifty-two percent of unmarried regis tered women cast a ballot in Florida, compared to 60 per cent of the state’s registered voters, according to the sur vey. Had unmarried women voted at the same rate as the average voter, the study showed they would have expanded the electorate by 202,640 votes - a figure that would have dwarfed the 537- vote margin in the heated battle for Florida’s 25 elec toral votes. The election results prompted Democrats to begin a campaign to increase the number of registered and voting single women, a group that comprises about a fifth of the electorate. Democrats contend that if this wealth of progressive voters puU the lever at even a marginally higher rate this year, they could turn some of the states that backed President George Bush in 2000 into ones that will back the Democratic nominee on Nov. 2. When it comes to economic and domestic policies, such as the future of Social Security, reproductive rights and health care, unmarried women ‘’strongly support the positions of the Democratic Party,” said Ann Lewis, chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Vote Center. ‘We know they are more likely, when they hear the differences between the parties, to vote for the Democratic Party.” Democrats began to study and reach out to this key demographic as early as 2000. By 2002, The Democratic National Committee had launched a program called Democratic Voices where media strate gists trained women to spread the party’s message to their friends and col leagues. This approach is an effective way to reach single women, Lewis said, because they tend to rely more on personal contacts than media or government sources for political informa tion. . In 2002, Democratic strategists taught 750 women in a dozen battle ground states in the Southwest and Midwest how to spread the Democratic message strategy to their fnends, family members and colleagues. These ‘’messen gers” were trained to give speeches, field questions, and make an argument on air and on paper. After their training, the women received "“regular talking point memos via email. The Democratic National Committee plans to build upon the program this year but it has not finalized plans yet, Lewis said. More recently, two politi cally active women. Page Gardner and Christina S V National Fathertiood Initiative www.fatheriiood.org Desser, launched Women’s Voices. Women Vote to study the voting habits of single women and increase their participation in the political process. Gardner, a political strategist, says the group commissioned the survey to lay the groundwork for then- next step: a ‘’turnkey” pro gram that can be used across the country to increase regis tration and voting among unmarried women. The pro ject will promote early voting and vote-by-mail programs as well as a get-out-the-vote drive on Election Day. Republicans dismiss Democrats’ claims that they have a lock on single women and instead say they are not targeting specific popula tions of voters over others. ‘We are reaching out to all voters - Afiican American voters, Hispanic voters, mar ried men, single men,” said Christine Iverson, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. ‘’The Bush Administration and the Republican Party has sup ported a number of policies that appeal to a broad cross- section of working Americans.” At the same time, Republicans are not willing to cede any ground to Democrats when it comes to female voters. The Republican National Committee, for example, has launched a program called Winning Women, designed to recruit and train female candidates for public office and to reach out to female voters, Iverson said. She added that GOP policies, such as the $1.35 trillion tax cut package enacted in 2001 and the $350 billion tax cut package enacted in 2003, will draw aU women to their party. In fact, the survey found that single women are not tied to a' single political party. But Democrats found reason to believe they might support their candidates given that they are more likely to hold progressive views on social policy issues such as abortion, gun control and gay rights. Single women are also more likely to struggle financially and are more concerned about their financial viability than are married women. Democrats also took heart from one of the survey’s more dramatic findings: 65 percent of the respondents said the country is headed in the wrong direction, a num ber that suggests many are dissatisfied with the status quo and may seek a change in November. Nay-sayers abound, how ever. Members of this dis parate group hold a range of political views and cannot be typecast as easily as more ideologically coherent groups, such as southern white men or members of labor unions, analysts said. “For 1 will restore health unto thee, and I will heat thy wounds, saith the Lord.'' - Jeremiah 30:17 AmeriCare>!>Heal!H On “The Plaza” • 704-535-0400 1805 Milton Road • Charlotte, NC 28215 • Pediatrics At “The Park” • 704-399-2677 6023 Beatties Ford Road ♦ Charlotte. NC 28216 For All Family Healthcare Needs - Accepting New Patients - “Appointments Not Necessary” Dr. Fidelis Edosomwan Pediatrics @ The Park -Nc low open - Andrew Ighade, MD Anthonia 0. 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