November 19, 2006 at 08:20:58

Women Sway 3 Senate Elections

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By Sandy Todd (about the author) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Sandy Todd - Writer

The pundits who think Democrats do not have a mandate for a specific agenda need to read the findings from Lake Research Partners (pdf) commissioned by Ms. Magazine and the Women Donors Network. Both men and women, Republicans, Democrats and Independents, stated Iraq and the economy as their top concerns for the country. Moreover, the role of women in this election cannot be underestimated.

Women voted for the Democratic candidate by a whopping 12 point margin and swung the election in Montana, Missouri and Virginia. Especially notable was the 10 point swing in Virginia, where women voted Web 55-45, and men voted in the reverse. Women, along with Independents and Democratic men, also sited health care as a top priority, more important than corruption. Republicans were more likely to cite corruption, although Republican women joined Democratic women in concerns over social security and retirement. Nobody cited immigration.

Women and the Rocky Mountain strategy clearly hold the key to the future of the Democratic Party as nobody in the south saw women as bringing beneficial change to Congress. 60% of men under 50 did not think women would bring any change on corruption, nor did 71% of Republicans, 59% of Baptists, 58% of southern men and 63% of southerners overall.

Clearly there has been more than a little spinning of the election results in the mainstream media as the focus has been on corruption which is a Republican issue. The voters in this poll tell a different story, if women's issues are actually equal to men's in the USofA. Women want a new direction on Iraq, health care, the economy and retirement. If the 10 point swing in Virginia is any indication, then women are finally voting their real values and will not be ignored any longer.

All across the world, men and women of good spirit are lifting others out of poverty and despair, cleaning dirty rivers and ocean beaches, stopping violence and injustice, teaching small children to read, write and think, and so much more. The (more...)

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