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."

Read the original article at KC Buzz Blog.