It's Not A Gender Gap but a Marriage Gap

For a generation Democrats have been selling the idea of a gender gap, the idea that more women vote for Democrats and that therefore Republicans have a problem.

Never mind that the gender gap implies also the reverse, that more men vote for Republicans and that therefore Democrats have a problem.

Instead, let’s talk about a marriage gap, writes Jeff Jacoby.
In 2004 there was a 36 percent marriage gap among women.

In the most recent presidential election, unmarried women voted for John Kerry by a 25-point margin, while President Bush won the votes of married women by an 11-point margin: a marriage gap of 36 points.

It’s really just practical. If you are a single woman, you rely on government for your safety net. If you are a married woman, you rely on your husband.

OK, now let’s expand Jacoby’s analysis a little. First of all:

Financial protection. Single women, especially if they have children, are more likely to be dependent on the government for welfare, Social Security, and other economic benefits... Married women, by contrast, are much less likely to depend on government support. Instead, many come to see the welfare state and its tax burden as a threat to the well-being of their family, making them more inclined to vote Republican.

Nothing remarkable there. Then there is:

Children and cultural values. Married parents with children are less likely to support the party whose policies make it harder to shield their children from corrosive cultural influences.

Yes, and the Democrats, as the party of single people, cannot get away from condoning complete license for single people. Finally, there is (easy now):

Male influence. Women are significantly less likely than men to follow national and international affairs, a knowledge gap that researchers have documented for decades.

The consequence is that married women tend to take up the political opinions of their husbands on national and international affairs.

What would be nice is for women to start taking control of local politics and getting control of their children’s education. Some of us out here shake our heads in frustration that women haven’t done something about education. How can married mothers put up with the nonsense that’s dished out at their children at the local government school?

Anything we can do to help, ladies?