So, I had no idea that single women were such slackers when it came to voting. I first clicked on the
Archpundit's ad earlier today. But I have to admit the overwhelming pink was too much for me. Then, a little research found this story on
labelling single women as the next potential "soccer moms" or "Nascar dads."
I'm so fascinated. I didn't realize there was that difference in voter turnout between single and married women. And it extends to how
they vote:
the fact is most married women say they'll vote for President Bush. By nearly 2-to-1, unmarried women say they support John Kerry.
The
first poll said that women were voting for Obama 74 percent to 21 percent for Keyes. I'd be curious how that plays out married/single.
I'm not really surprised, it reflects the women I know, but I'm still intrigued. But the most compelling editorial encouraging single women to vote came from...who else? Oprah. While browing her site looking for the link to the Obama story, I found this
excellent editorial:
...I cast a ballot for everybody who came before me and gave their life's energy so that yours and mine could be a force that matters today. Emancipated slave and civil rights activist Sojourner Truth, speaking at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron in 1851, said, "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!" We'd see amazing changes if women took to the polls en masse.
The most recent statistics are embarrassing and disrespectful to our female heritage—to every suffragette, to every woman who didn't have a voice but hoped someday her daughters might be heard. There was a time not so long ago in this country when unmarried women held no status, other than as old maids. Our opinions and choices didn't matter because we needed a man to bring us value. Now we have the power and have chosen not to use it. In the 2000 presidential election, 22 million unmarried women who were eligible to vote stayed home from the polls. While 68 percent of married women voted, only 52 percent of unmarried women did so. If single women voted at the same rate as married women, millions more ballots would have been cast. Remember, 537 votes decided the last presidential election. We owe more—we ought to do better and respect ourselves enough to be counted. Vote.
So take Oprah's advice, vote.
