Labeling Parents During the Election Season
NASCAR dad. (One of the few father-oriented voting bloc monikers)
Now, in today’s New York Times, I stumbled upon yet another entry in the let’s-define-moms-who-vote-in-some-quirky-way that I’d never seen before: Wal-Mart mom.
Why the attempt to label mom voting blocs? “Married women and women with children vote in higher proportions than single women,” an expert on women and politics told NBC this spring. “. . . Whatever affects their families, whether [it] is their children or their spouses or their own aging parents, family issues are of central importance.”
I don’t necessarily agree. Not every mom I know votes on the same issues. Not every mother votes on family issues. Or on education policy.
Believe it or not, it’s been my experience that women base their votes on all kinds of different issues, reflecting their individual values and priorities. And, like dads, they don’t vote in lockstep. Not all the soccer moms I know, for example, vote for the same people.
I’m with blogger and mom of three Erika Jurney who told NBC: “The people who place value on labels like ’security moms’ are pollsters and politicians, but in real life people are multi-dimensional and these tight labels are meaningless.”
Local mom and author Meredith O'Brien gives you a peek behind the picket fences of modern day parenting. With humor and candor, it's her take on real parenting in the real world.
Glad you enjoyed my quote — I’m so tired of the labels!
Comment by Erika Jurney — September 8, 2008 @ 11:25 am
I agree. Not all people of similar demographics vote the same. For instance, two women in my office - sitting right next to each other - share the same position, age range, general age of kids, some kids activities and live in close proximity to each other. They are both working moms and their families appear to be of similar economic means. They are both of the same ethnicity. Yet amazingly, they couldn’t be farther apart politically. It blows all the demographic data apart.
Comment by Football Dad — September 15, 2008 @ 8:55 am