The Unattached Women's Vote

First came the soccer moms, with their SUVs and school-age children, and then the security moms, concerned about terrorism. Now there is a new group of women that campaigners say politicians should reach out to: the single, divorced and widowed.

Unmarried women account for 47 million people, or 24 percent of the electorate. But according to research by Women's Voices, Women's Vote (WVWV), many fail to turn up at the polls, citing a lack of information about the issues. In 2004, 20 million of this group -- branded "women on their own" -- did not vote, a higher proportion than their married counterparts.

WVWV has launched a campaign aiming to mobilize single women on behalf of Democratic candidates for the Nov. 7 midterm elections.

"This group of voters represents a huge untapped resource for the party and the politician smart enough to talk to them about the issues that they care about," said Page Gardner, founder and president of WVWV.

At a recent breakfast briefing in Washington, Gardner posited that women united by unmarried status share common interests and concerns, whether they are 25 or 55. However the statistics are sliced, she said, "the homogeneity among the issues that move them is incredible." The group includes those with and without children and women in relationships.

Research by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg found that the issues uniting the women also put them off President Bush and his party. A survey of unmarried women in the 50 most competitive districts revealed that their top concern was Iraq and that they overwhelmingly vote Democratic.

Just as "security moms" are credited with helping the GOP to victory in 2004, Greenberg suggested, women on their own could be the key for the Democrats. "These are base voters," he said.

Read the original article in The Washington Post.