Members of both the Republican and Democratic parties are working to get the female vote. A number of speeches at both party conventions addressed women or social issues related to women, but the two parties are using two totally different plan in their efforts to attract the ladies.
Political experts say gender will play a big role in the coming election. According to the 2010 Census, during the last presidential election, nearly 10 million more women voted than men. Gail Kitch is the Chief Operating Officer of the Voter Participation Center, a non-profit, non-partisan group focused on increasing the female vote, especially among non-married women. She says the voting gap will likely keep growing.
“Any politician would be smart to do what you see the Republicans and Democrats doing coming out of their convention which is of course to foreground the role of women and the importance of women in society.”
Democrats made their pitch to women through several references to policy changes, like health care, or talking about social issues that are generally important to women. One of the speakers the Democrats offered was First Lady Michelle Obama.
“Barrack is thinking about folks like my dad and his grandmother. He’s thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day’s work. That’s why he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay act to help women get equal pay for equal work.”
Mrs. Obama also talked about things like the Affordable Care Act, which she says helps to ensure women get to make their own decisions about their bodies.
Ann Romney, the wife of Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney spoke at the Republican National convention in Tampa. And Mrs. Romeny hit similar notes. But some say when it comes to courting to female voting Mrs. Romney’s speech was more obvious.
“I love you women. And I hear your voices. You are the ones that have to do a little bit more and you know what it’s like to have to work a little bit harder to earn the respect you deserve at work.”
What Mrs. Romney’s speech didn’t touch on were a number of social issues like birth control and abortions. Judi Lanza was at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, but she caught Mrs. Romney’s speech on T.V. Lanza says she’s not so sure she believes Mrs. Romney’s message.
“What I felt with Ann, what she definitely was saying with the ‘we love women’ was she was trying to appeal to the women’s vote. And I feel that at least what we hear of what her husband wants to do it take away planned parenthood, take away a lot of women’s rights.”
And many Republican officials say they’re intentionally staying from social issues, because they want to keep the focus on the economy.
But Gail Kitch with the Voter Participation Center says, either way, it’s good the parties are addressing women. She says as long as women make it to the polls, they could represent a decisive vote in the coming election.
“Certainly the social issues obviously are critical and the more they know about those issues, the more they know about those issues, the more it has an impact on how they view a politicians views. I think the real point is kind of a level of awareness of the issues, social versus economic. The fact is that certainly for unmarried women, the issue that they are most familiar with because it’s something they live every day are the issues of economics for their family.”
Kitch says what women really want to know is which party is going to help them best take care of their families.
