"A Man and a Woman" Appears to be a Bush Strength comScore Networks recently released the results of a study examining the factors influencing the voting plans of American women in the
upcoming presidential election. The study, which examined factors ranging from age, income and motherhood to women's concerns about terrorism and the economy, revealed that marital status is among the
most important indicators of voting intention.
Linda Abraham, executive vice president of comScore Networks, said "The expected impact of younger women and particularly that of the "security
mom" segment on the outcome of the election has been the focus of a great deal of attention. This study indicates far more complex underlying dynamics across female voter groups. In a race as tight
as this one, the candidate that understands and addresses these dynamics might well come out ahead."
The central assumption behind the concept of the "security mom" segment is that women with
children are more likely to be concerned about terrorism and therefore favor President Bush because of his aggressive stance on the issue. comScore's study found that while mothers are indeed likely
to vote for President Bush, a woman's marital status alone is at least as much of an indicator of voting intention. Specifically, 51 percent of married women without children say they will vote for
George Bush, while 56 percent of married women with children say they will vote for the President - a difference of only 5 percentage points. In sharp contrast, only 33 percent of unmarried women
responded that they would vote for Bush.
Voting Plans by Marital Status and Motherhood (Registered female voters)
| | Married w/ Kids | Married w/o Kids | Never
Married |
| Bush and Cheney | 56% | 51% | 33% |
| Kerry
and Edwards | 32% | 35% | 53% |
| Nader and Camejo | 1% | 1% | 0% |
| None of these | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Don't know/not sure | 9% | 10% | 11% |
Source: comScoreQ2 September
24-29, 2004
comScore found that the differences between married and unmarried women persist across age and income groups.
Voting Plans by Marital Status, Age and Income
| AGE |
| Married | Never Married |
| | Age 18-34 | Age 35-54 | Age 18-34 | Age 35-54 |
| Bush and
Cheney | 52% | 58% | 30% | 39% |
| Kerry and Edwards | 37% | 30% | 56% | 46% |
| Nader and Camejo | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| None of these | 2% | 2% | 3% | 1% |
| Don't know/not sure | 8% | 10% | 11% | 13% |
| INCOME |
| Married | Never Married |
| <$50k | >/= $50k | <$50k | >/= $50k
|
| Bush and Cheney | 53% | 57% | 32% | 29% |
| Kerry and Edwards | 32% | 36% | 55% | 59% |
| Nader
and Camejo | 2% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| None of these | 2% | 1% | 1% | 4% |
| Don't know/not sure | 10% | 6% | 12% | 7% |
While comScore found that married mothers do put a greater emphasis on terrorism,
the economy is an extremely important issue with all segments of women voters. This is especially true of married women without children, who are significantly more likely to respond that the economy
is more important than terrorism.
To better understand how female voters' lifestyles and interests differ between Bush and Kerry supporters, comScore examined the lifestyle of each group as
indicated by their online behavior patterns
Online Content Preferences Among Female Registered Voters
% More or Less Likely to Visit Site
| Category | Bush Supporters | Kerry
Supporters |
| Financial Information/Advice | -19% | +45% |
| Community-Family | +76% | +18% |
| Community-Teens | +50% | -78% |
| Entertainment-Kids | +39% | -63% |
| Entertainment-Movies | -7% | +65% |
| Entertainment-News | -42% | +54% |
| Health-Information | -22% | +89% |
| News/Information-General News | -16% | +20% |
| News/Information-Politics | +15% | +5% |
| Retail-Books | -1% | +112% |
| Sports | +75% | -8% |
| Travel | +14% | +95% |
Source: comScoreQ2 September 24-29, 2004
For more information, please visit www.comscore.com