Her Daily News

Though it is still early and there is still much to be seen regarding the presidential election, I wanted to take a moment to show some important factors women should consider when voting in 2008:

• Women outnumber and outvote men, and candidates are already creating campaigns to woo the female vote and strategists are tailoring campaign issues to focus on women’s concerns, including health care and education.

• Women constitute more than half the population, which makes them highly sought-after voters, political observers say.

• They register and vote in larger numbers than men.

• Although some may be influenced by their sex and thus likely to vote for a woman on the ballot, others are just as likely to vote for a man, observers say.

• in last year’s midterm election, exit polls indicated that proportionally more women than men voted for Democrats, and they were credited with helping Democrats regain control of Congress.

• Married, suburban women historically are more likely to vote than their younger, unmarried counterparts, observers say.

• In the 2004 election, 50 percent of women ages 18-24 voted, compared with 44 percent of the men that age, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civil Learning & Engagement.

• Worldwide, more than 40 countries - but not the United States - have had women in charge of their government. England has had Margaret Thatcher, Ireland has President Mary McAleese and Germany has Chancellor Angela Merkel, to name a few.

• The U.S. lags far behind others in female legislative leadership, ranking 70th out of 139 countries, according to data from Women in National Parliaments.

• Top on the list was Rwanda, with 48.8 percent women in their House and 34.6 percent women in their Senate. In the U.S. Congress, women are 16.3 percent of U.S. House members and 16 percent of the Senate.

• Presidential candidates are creating special groups to try to draw women to their camp. Women for Giuliani. Women for Hillary. Women for McCain. Women for Richardson. Women for Romney. And so on.

Source: Women’s Vote is a big factor in 2008 - Anna M. Tinsley, Miami Herald

women, voting, politics, election, presidential, 2008, voters