Girls Gone Riled: Will Single Women Break Bush's Heart?

ARIANNA ONLINE - Why don't single women vote?

As a group, single women feel particularly detached from the political process. They don’t believe that politicians listen to them or care about their problems. Compared to the big money interests that dominate our politics, they feel powerless to effect real change. They are also turned off by the overwhelmingly negative tone of modern campaigns.

If John Kerry is going to capture the hearts and votes of this crucial voting bloc, he’s going to have to offer them more than sweet talk and the policy equivalent of a dozen roses.

Luckily for Kerry, what he needs to do to attract single women voters is exactly the same thing he needs to do to attract the rest of the electorate: Provide a bold moral vision of what America can be. A vision that brings hope and soul back to our politics and appeals to more than voters’ narrow self-interests and unspoken prejudices.

Polls show that single women don’t see themselves as tied to any political party. But they do see themselves as part of the larger American community, and are deeply concerned about the well-being of their neighbors and the nation as a whole. “This year, politicians of any stripe ignore these women at their peril,” says Christina Desser, co-director of Women’s Voices.

Single women are fed up and desperately want change. Now it’s up to John Kerry to empower these Girls Gone Riled and convince them to kick George Bush to the curb.