Female Voters Are Slipping Democrats' Grip, Women's Forum Editor Says
by Bill Fan
(
March 23, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A conservative women's organization says the Democratic Party is losing its longtime lock on the support of women voters.For decades the Democratic Party has managed a majority of women's votes in national elections. However, Independent Women's Forum (IWF) senior editor Charlotte Hays says things are changing, and the Democrats' grip on this long predictable voting bloc is loosening.
The party's sway with the majority of the female voting is eroding, Hays asserts. "I think that started to vanish in the last election," she says, noting in particular that "married women do tend to vote Republican."
Also, women in general tend to be concerned about protecting their families, the IWF spokeswoman contends. She says that is something today's women see George W. Bush doing, and she believes this is likely to have an impact on his approval rating among a large segment of women voters.
"If we lose the war in Iraq, this is not the kind of enemy that waves goodbye to us," Hays explains. "It's the kind of enemy that is bold and then follows us home. So, for security-oriented people, [Bush's] standing should be very, very high with women," she says.
Nevertheless, the Forum's senior editor is not surprised that the President seems to be having a hard time keeping his approval numbers up. "It doesn't surprise me that he has trouble," she says, "because you have a media that's really an adjunct of the Democratic National Committee. They sort of take up the issues of the Democrats and go with them."
Still, Hays contends, things are changing little by little, and she believes Democrats will not be able to continue taking their grip on women voters for granted. And the reason, she says, is because women today are more politically aware than ever and are well able to discern which party offers more security for their families.
Bill Fancher, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
