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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
'04 Dems and single women -- not just for Kucinich anymore
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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Will these '04 Dems attract the untapped pool of single women?
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Bush says that Iraqis must take an active role in putting Saddam Hussein on trial.
Dean says, despite the capture of Saddam Hussein, his position on the war has not changed.
U.S. interrogators are pressing Hussein for information about insurgents in Iraq and missing Baath Party officials.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As two more Democrats deliver speeches today on policies, foreign and otherwise, we wonder whether they'll make a special appeal to single women.
We pose this question in a somewhat awkward attempt to link three of the day's big happenings: so-called "major " speeches by John Kerry in Iowa and Joe Lieberman in New Hampshire, along with a new Democratic poll being released this morning that claims unmarried women represent the largest untapped trove of votes in '04.
Also today, Howard Dean will travel to Arizona to pick up the previously reported endorsement of former Governor and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Dean will hold a Sun City rally with Babbitt before embarking on a campaign swing to Sierra Vista and Yuma.
Dean is privately urging other Democratic bigs to endorse him. New names we're hearing this week are New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, who sources say has committed to back him, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who sources say is still uncommitted but moving closer to an endorsement. Napolitano, whose state's primary is in February, would be a bigger score than McGreevey, whose primary is not until June and who is currently unpopular at home.
Both gubernatorial nods would, of course, further cement the sense that Dean is the party's inevitable nominee, which took a dive Sunday morning as news broke of Saddam Hussein's capture.
But back to single women, who pollsters Celinda Lake and Stan Greenberg will report today are "progressive" (read: Democratic friendly), are "seeking change" (read: open to ousting President Bush) and "have the power to decide elections" and "can be convinced to participate."
Census numbers show that unmarried women make up 46 percent of all voting-age women and 56 percent of all unregistered women, according to the poll. As of 2000, there were 16 million unmarried, unregistered women and 22 million unmarried women who did not vote. If unmarried women voted at the same rate as married women, there would have been more than six million more voters in the electorate.
At the Grinding hour (9 a.m. EST), Greenberg and Lake were scheduled to release their poll at the St. Regis hotel a breakfast formerly hosted by Godfrey Sperling.
And now, back to two married men: Kerry and Lieberman.
Kerry will speak at 11 a.m. EST at Drake University in Des Moines, where he'll lay out four immediate steps Americans should take to seize the opportunity presented by Hussein's capture.
After briefly congratulating President Bush for a "job well done," Kerry will focus on the "dual danger" this country faces, from Bush's "unilateralism" on one side, and on the other side from Democrats "who threaten to take us off on the road of retreat and retrenchment," according to a copy of Kerry's prepared remarks.
Kerry, who has focused on criticizing Bush's handling of post-war Iraq for several months, will instead highlight today that he "knew his vote [for the congressional resolution authorizing Bush to use force] wouldn't be popular in the primaries, but I based it on my experience, not the polls."
He'll then take a swipe at Dean, saying Democrats "who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein don't have the judgment to be president." Kerry is referring here to the former Vermont governor, who said in late April, "We've gotten rid of [Saddam Hussein]. I suppose that's a good thing."
For his part, Lieberman will speak in Manchester at 11:30 a.m. EST about the economy and foreign policy. He'll argue that no Democrat can be elected president on the strength of just one of these two "pillars," but that he needs both. And he'll contrast his positive on the vision on both, with what Dean is proposing.
You can also expect Lieberman to reiterate some of the charges he has made against Dean recently, including his quote yesterday that Dean is "crawling down a spider hole of denial" and that if Dean had been president today, "Saddam would be in power, not in prison." Lieberman's speech will be carried live on C-SPAN.
Also today, the Democratic National Committee will hold a major fundraiser at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami at 7 p.m. EST. Scheduled to speak are Terry McAuliffe and Sens. Bob Graham and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Tonight's expected haul: $1 million.
