The Ever-Widening Gap: Gender and the 2012 Presidential Election

Abstract

When the 19th amendment passed giving American women the right to vote in 1920, politicians feared that women would vote significantly different from men, changing the dynamics of elections. This fear failed to become reality until recently, when women progressively started to vote more for the Democratic Party in presidential elections, reaching a historic high of 20 percent in November 2012.¹ Through this chapter, I shall frame the issue of an ever-widening gender gap around the involvement of Michelle Obama and Ann Romney in the presidential campaigns of their husbands. I will demonstrate that women’s participation in the work force and the rising number of single women with children made this voter group lean towards the Democratic candidates who support a welfare system, reproductive rights and bigger government that provides more social services. Meanwhile, the Republican Party has been falling short of addressing women’s concerns instead of successfully communicating that a stronger economy would benefit all and that the GOP does not intend to make women second-class citizens by taking away their reproductive rights.