What issues loom largest for women voters right now?
Women care about national security; there’s a foreboding that women feel. Violence in society is a major concern; whether that translates to support for gun control or not is another issue. How a candidate views the selection of Supreme Court justices is not an issue that polls high, but it is of great concern. Then there is the economy; we have so many single women, many women in poverty, many working women, who are struggling to make ends meet, that the security of jobs is a big concern, and healthcare is an enormous issue for women. Also, quality education for their families, as well as their rights and liberties. Women’s rights and liberties do not come up straightaway when you poll people about which issues are most compelling to them. But some of those deeper values women expect from a candidate include the value of a woman’s rights to dignity, to equality, to privacy, a woman’s right to determine the course of her life, to equal pay, to healthcare. They may not poll as “issues”
