WEST ALLIS, Wis., Oct. 10-During a weekend campaign stop in southeastern Wisconsin, Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards held a discussion with women voters Sunday, saying the lack of female voter participation in the 2000 election yielded \devastating consequences"" for the United States.
Approximately 22 million eligible female voters did not go to the polls in 2000, Edwards said. Since then, he said, health care costs have skyrocketed and American businesses have outsourced jobs.
""George Bush has done nothing except make these things worse,"" he said.
Edwards assured that if elected, he and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry would put the federal government back on the path to responsibility.
""When is somebody going to stand up for you and the rest of the people in this country?"" he said.
Both Kerry and Bush have made efforts to reach out to women on the campaign trail, and according to UW-Madison political science and women's studies Professor Virginia Sapiro, the female vote has always been a concern for candidates. Yet, she said women have taken on a different importance during this year's road to Nov. 2.
For the last 20 years, Sapiro said men and women have held slightly different perspectives on political parties, with men typically supporting Republicans and women typically supporting Democrats.
""This year is particularly interesting because there is not as stark of a difference between men and women's voting perspectives,"" she said.
Women have typically skeptically viewed Republican policies on foreign and domestic policy. Yet, since 2000, Sapiro said Bush and the Republican Party have begun to embrace ""compassionate conservatism.""
She said Republicans have been trying to ""soften their image and say 'We don't eat our young, we actually do care about the public and people's safety.'"" She also said Republicans have swayed women voters through promises of homeland security and protecting families from terrorism.
Although politicians clump women voters into one group, UW-Madison political science Professor G. Donald Ferree said it is important to remember this group is made up of many smaller social, ethnic and economic groups. This can make it difficult to explain the trends in women's voting tendencies, he said.
""They don't vote monolithically,"" he said.
