The Unmarried Electorate: 60% Obama, 33% McCain

Want to see a landslide of truly historic proportions? Come November 4, 2008, let single people rule! Registered voters who are unmarried (divorced, widowed, or have always been single) favor Obama over McCain, 60% to 33%. Married people, in contrast, favor McCain, 50% to 43%.

But where is the love? When was the last time you heard about this demographic juggernaut on Morning Joe? Where are the network stories or the feature articles in newspapers or magazines? Research 2000, the source for the polling data reported by the Daily Kos, does not even ask about marital status.

Maybe visions of stereotypes are dancing in pundits' heads, and they think that the single vote is the same as the youth vote. But even if you subtract all of the 18-29 year olds from the 93 million unmarried Americans who are 18 or older, you still have 57 million single people left.

Unmarried America is totally unwavering in its preference for Obama. In Gallup polling results dating back to early June, the lowest level of support ever recorded was 52%. Singles are interested in politics, and in their positions on significant issues, they are often on the vanguard -- eventually, the rest of society catches up with them.

Single people are generally a resilient lot, but they have a real vulnerability with regard to one of the most alarming issues of our time -- the tanking economy. They'd like to hear some smart solutions.

Obama, 60% to 33%. That's the potential. But the numbers are for registered voters, who have to show up (or mail it in) to make their votes count. So how about it, Barack? You've got an entire 30 minutes of primetime television coming up. Why not ask for the votes of people who are single?

Bella DePaulo is the author of Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After.

Comments

[Buggie10]

Well, no such luck on the Obama infomercial (there was the one widowed teacher, I guess). But the whole thing was REALLY geared to very conservative potential McCain voters. More so than featuring the "story" of a single person, I was hoping he'd feature someone from the "other" America- you know, someone who lives in a city or immigrated here or just SOME diversity. Was I supposed to be moved by the suburban soccer mom with the enormous house driving her 4 little carbon-emitters around?

And I love the Obama tax plan, but if you go on his web site and use the tax calculator it's pretty depressing that married people will save double for the same amount of household income.

[karmagirl1061]

I'm a divorced, educated, working mother in her 40's. There are many, many other like me, who trust in Obama. So, you see there are many of us who don't fit in the really young and childless category. IMO, single Obama supporters are just well informed.

[Johnnn]

Married people with property and children are more realistic than the young and childless. It is
no surprise to me that the sinlges would support an unproven candidate like Obama. Catholics and the married are grounded in reality and look for substance in a candidate.

[Quaoar]

Unmarried people (including the never married, divorced,widowed, and those not allowed to marry) often have property and/or children. And married people who seriously think McCain/Palin have substance aren't grounded in reality by any means.

[karmagirl1061]

My friends and I are in that group and we definitely plan to cast our votes for Obama - Biden November 4th. We will also be assisting others to get to the polls to do the same. This is too important for us. The future is so uncertain and troubling, we need someone like Obama at the helm!

[MPeter]

This is an instructive article. There is a huge, receptive audience for Senator Obama. I hope he can speak to them and excite them the same way he has excited the youth. Good job raising this issue.

[kemstone]

Single people are not "real" Americans.

Seriously though, these are interesting numbers, but I'm more curious about the statistics regarding those with or without children. I've heard that generally speaking, people are liberal until they have children, at which point their views tilt towards the conservative. That's certainly been the case in my family, and it makes perfect sense to me. When you're childless you think more about the big picture--what's best for society and humanity as a whole. Once you've got children your whole mind-set changes, the well-being of your family becomes the top priority, and you gradually give less and less consideration to the rest of the world. Self-interest (certainly not always a bad thing) is at the core of conservatism. And while I am single, childless, and radically liberal, I can easily imagine how my views might change if the well-being of a child, rather than the good of all humanity, suddenly became the focal point of my existence.

But of course even then I would still never even consider voting for McCain.

[TParrish]

Here is an article addressing exactly your points, written by a conservative:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html