A very interesting editorial by Jeff Jacoby.
A Quinnipiac University poll this month suggests just how important the marriage gap has become to President Obama’s reelection hopes. Among voters nationwide, it found, Obama’s advantage over Mitt Romney is narrow, 46 percent to 43 percent. Drill beneath the surface, however, and a sharp divide appears. Among married voters, Romney has a robust 13-point lead, 51 percent to 38 percent. But Obama enjoys an even larger lead among singles, 54 percent to 34 percent. Unmarried women in particular are in the president’s camp: They support him 2-1 over Romney.
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The political stakes are clear. Single women, one of the fastest-growing population cohorts, already account for one-fourth of all eligible voters. They are the “most reliably Democratic voting group outside African Americans,” writes Washington analyst Jessica Gavora, and coaxing them to the polls is an urgent priority for Obama’s strategists. That explains the Democrats’ whipped-up accusations of a GOP “war on women.” And it explains the Obama campaign’s “Life of Julia,” an Internet slideshow that depicts a woman reaping the benefits of government programs at each stage of life. With help from “President Obama’s policies,” Julia is able to get an education, go to work, access health care, raise a child, launch a business, and retire in comfort. Everything, it seems, but get married.
