In the first debate, Bush mentioned women just once, in the context of voters in Afghanistan. Kerry didn’t mention women at all. In the second debate, Kerry mentioned women twice, Bush not at all.
If the “gender gap” really is starting to narrow, an argument I’m highly skeptical of, Kerry wasn’t going to take any chances last night. As with his comments on his faith, Kerry wasn’t subtle, but he was effective.
Kerry on minimum wage:
“If we raise the minimum wage, which I will do over several years to $7 an hour, 9.2 million women who are trying to raise their families would earn another $3,800 a year. The president has denied 9.2 million women $3,800 a year, but he doesn’t hesitate to fight for $136,000 to a millionaire.”
Kerry on income equality:
“We also need to hold onto equal pay. Women work for 76 cents on the dollar for the same work that men do. That’s not right in America. And we had an initiative that we were working on to raise women’s pay. They’ve cut it off. They’ve stopped it. They don’t enforce these kinds of things.”
Kerry on affirmative action:
“Some people have a mistaken view of it in America. It also is with respect to women, it’s with respect to other efforts to try to reach out and be inclusive in our country.”
Kerry on reproductive rights:
“I believe that choice is a woman’s choice. It’s between a woman, God and her doctor. And that’s why I support that.”
Notice a theme here? I’m not sure if the gender gap was ever really disappearing in this election, but Kerry couldn’t have done much more to reach out to women voters.