Single Female Voters Targeted

Single U.S. women, including those who have never married, are divorced or widowed make up the largest number of Americans who don't vote and persuading them to do so could help Democrats.

The Los Angeles Times reports that nearly half of single women eligible to vote don't. That's more than 21 million non-voters. According to the Times:

"This population of single women covers a lot of categories, across race, across ages, across incomes, so … it's more complicated to make a broad statement about these women," said Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Because of their large numbers, she added, they have "the potential of changing the outcome of an election, particularly in a close race."

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Many analysts predict that registering single women — and then getting them to vote — could result in a big payoff for Democrats.

As a group, unmarried women tend to have liberal views on social issues such as abortion, gun control and gay rights, pollsters say. When single women vote, they generally vote Democratic.

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Although Republicans are not specifically targeting single women, they are refusing to cede the battle over their vote.

"We're definitely reaching out to register women," said Christine Iverson, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. "But we're not focusing on one demographic group."

This week, the Bush reelection campaign is launching a program called "W Stands for Women." The volunteer effort by women around the country will "communicate the president's message and record of achievement, especially on the issues that women care most about — making America more secure, strengthening the economy, making healthcare more accessible and more affordable," said campaign spokeswoman Ali Harden.

The Democratic National Committee has a similar program aimed at helping Kerry.

Any group of 21 million is going to be too diverse to target wholesale. I don't think that a candidate can appeal to them all at once. This group will continue to be sliced and diced into subgroups that can be reached with specific issues.