By Sarah Wheaton

Married women outnumber single women at the voting booth in this country, cycle after cycle. Representing almost a quarter of the electorate, unmarried women are a "political gold mine," according to Page Gardner, the founder and president of Women's Voices. Women Vote., a nonprofit that works to turn out this group. With an estimated 20 million not registered to vote, "women on their own" make up the largest non-voting bloc in the country.

"Nearly 40 percent of unmarried women say the issues that matter to them most never get discussed by policymakers," she said, in a release. "No one is listening."

W.V.W.V. just came out with a new survey of 1,000 single women conducted in late January by the consulting firm of Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster. Its findings suggest that the demographic is much more likely to be a "gold mine" for the left than for the right. (Previous W.V.W.V. studies illustrate a considerable "marriage gap.") Single women share responsibility for the change in Congressional majorities after the 2006 election.

Just under half said Congress's first or second priority should be to "get out of Iraq," and two-thirds oppose President Bush's troop buildup there. A third said that health care should be a chief concern in Congress. In ranking their favorite parts of House Democrats' first 100 hours agenda, single women liked changes to the Medicare prescription drug benefit the most, followed by raising the minimum wage.

Traditional gender wedge issues do not appear to be at the forefront. Only 7 percent wanted to see Congress prioritize "preserving a woman's right to choose" (then again, "ending abortion" was not a choice).

"What gets the attention of women on their own are changes that can affect their lives - doing something about health care and reaching children and mothers and raising the minimum wage and equal pay," Mr. Greenberg said. "Their ears perk up to politics when politicians are listening and politics can bring change for women."

Other aspects of this group's demographic profile could play a large role in unmarried women's political priorities. An interesting point from the release:

Gardner added that the majority of unmarried woman in the United States are worlds apart from the urban professionals depicted in the HBO show "Sex and the City." More than 40 pecent of women on their own make less than $30,000 a year. Twenty-three percent are widowed, and nearly 20% are single moms.

By the way, not that these matter much so early, but, you know, we're obsessed. Single women appear to like Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton equally, giving both of them an average rating near 60 on a scale of one to 100.

No Ring. No Vote.

The Caucus - New York Times Blog.