Just moments after the New Hampshire primary race was called Tuesday night for Hillary Clinton, one of her top strategists told me that one demographic group made the difference: unmarried women. Single, separated, divorced and widowed women have always leaned Democratic–that is, when they vote. But they historically have been a particularly difficult group to get ot the polls.
In Iowa, they had voted heavily in favor of Barack Obama, who won 40% of their vote, compared with 27% for Clinton, which is a 13 percentage point margin. In New Hampshire, Clinton won them by a 17 percentage point margin, 50-33% over Obama. That’s a 30 percentage point swing over the course of five days.
Women’s Voices, Women Vote, an organization devoted to increasing voter participation among single women, has this analysis of what happened.
UPDATE: This idea from Swampland commenter/political strategist Mike M:
You know… Hillary could really use this to pick up more single male votes… where are you likely to meet that special someone? At a Hillary rally!