Monday, July 23, 2007

20 Million Single Moms: Will Obama Go For Them?



20 million single moms stayed out of the 2000 and 2004 races. They are disenchanted. They don't bother. The question is, will Obama try and bring them into the process? It is not enough to talk of universal health care. These 20 million people have to be specifically targeted.

Barack Obama's mother was a single mom for parts of her life. But it is not enough to mention that. These 20 million people are a specific group with specific political needs. They have to be addressed as a group, like African Americans are, like Hispanics are.

This is key to Obama getting ahead of Hillary. If he refuses to address this crowd, he will continue to lag in the national polls.

The debate on single moms is necessary. Is this a case of family breakdown? Is this a case of men not managing to keep pace with liberated women in terms of their gender attitudes? Is it a case of economic pressures? Is it a case of unplanned pregnancies? Is it to do with weak family values? Why disproportionately women?

This is a very specific demographic. That has to be recognized.

Their primary political needs might be to do with child care facilities. Once the political will is mustered, details will follow.

On The Web

SingleMom.com - Single Mom's Resources for Single Mother, Single ...
How a single mom makes it on $31K - MSN Money
My Single Mom Life -- Sleepless in Sarasota
Single parent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United States, the percentage of children with single parents rose from 23% in 1980 to 31% in 2002. .... 9% of single parents in the UK are fathers, and 86% of single parents are white ..... 47% of single parent families are below the Government-defined poverty line (after housing costs) .... those living with a sole parent were about three times more likely to either kill themselves or end up in the hospital after an attempted suicide by the age of 26 than children living with two parents
Working Moms Refuge | Single Moms
Diary of a Single Mom on the Edge
SingleRose.com - Resource for Single Mothers, Single Moms, Single ...
Single Mom Seeking-A Book by Rachel Sarah


In The News

Tonight voters will log on to watch landmark online debate 49abcnews.com
It was the snobs wot lost it
Guardian Unlimited
Hamas: AKP victory is 'proof' of Islamic trend in region Earthtimes.org
US threat to strike al-Qaeda in Pakistan
Sydney Morning Herald
Experience Trumps for Clinton; 'New Direction' Keeps Obama Going
ABC News
For Clinton, debate could turn into 7 against 1 SI.com
Poll shows Clinton leading Democratic rivals for presidency Xinhua Fifty-four Democrats said Clinton, who is from New York, has the best chance of winning the general election in November 2008, more than twice the percentage saying Senator Barack Obama of Illinois (22 percent), according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll. .... Among Democratic-leaning independents, 44 percent said Clinton, 25 percent Obama and 11 percent Edwards. .... Among independents, 35 percent cited Clinton as the Democrat with the best chance of beating the GOP nominee and 29 percent said Obama. Among Republicans, 37 percent said Clinton and 33 percent Obama. .... Overall, 45 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents support Clinton to be the party's nominee, with Obama second at 30 percent. .... Clinton leads among both women and men in the new poll. Among whites, Clinton leads Obama by double digits, but the two run nearly neck-and-neck among African Americans: 46 percent would vote for Obama and 40 percent for Clinton. ..... Eight in 10 said they would be comfortable with a female head of state; 86 percent said so of an African American, as did 74 percent of a Hispanic. ..... But fewer said they would have no reservations: 54 percent would be "entirely comfortable" with a female president, 56 percent with an African American and 44 percent with a Latino.
Romney blasts Hillary, Obama: Compares Sen. Clinton to Karl Marx Boston Herald
Obama "Walks the Walk" on Supporting Illegal Immigration
American Thinker Obama told the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group yesterday that he earned their support for his presidential campaign by marching in last year's May 1 immigrant rallies and challenged them to learn whether others met that standard. .... "I didn't run away from the issue, and I didn't just talk about it in front of Latino audiences." .... The Illinois Democrat said the recent Senate immigration debate "was both ugly and racist in a way we haven't see since the struggle for civil rights."
Clinton, Obama address La Raza Miami Herald Clinton did not demand an end to federal raids on undocumented immigrants. Obama would not guarantee a visit to the immigrant-heavy agricultural area of California's Central Valley in between his fundraising trips to Los Angeles. ..... ''I'm proud to have not one, but two front-runners in the race for president of the United States,'' said Janet Murguia, La Raza's president. ``I think it says a lot about our power and our energy to shape this country.'' .... Obama also had a unique message: that the civil rights movements led by an African-American, Martin Luther King Jr., and a Mexican-American, Cesar Chavez, were inextricably linked. Both African-American and Hispanic children suffer disproportionately without health insurance and high-achieving public schools. ...... ''Our separate struggles are really one struggle,'' Obama said, echoing King. ``An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'' ....... Clinton looked tired, perhaps because she and other senators were up all night Tuesday trying to secure support for a bill withdrawing troops from Iraq.
Flood situation in Bihar worsens Hindu
Iran and America to talk Sydney Morning Herald
Floods rising to record levels Washington Post
Britain Inundated By Flood Water CBS News
Water levels reaching 60-year highs Reuters.uk
Microsoft, Yahoo! Going Google's Way?
Techtree.com
Mighty Microsoft's future hinges on beating Google The Age
HP opens wallet for software business CNET News.com enhance HP's standing as one of the world's leading software companies ...... The picked-up pace of software acquisitions at HP mirrors a well worn strategy at rival IBM, which has bought 54 companies since 2003, including 36 software outfits as it decreases its dependency on hardware sales.
Site aimed at video doers, not watchers, expands
Africa, offline: Waiting for the Web what can happen when good intentions run into the technical, political and business realities of Africa. ...... Less than 4 percent of Africa's population is connected to the Web; most subscribers are in North African countries and the republic of South Africa. ..... E-mail messages and phone calls sent from some African countries have to be routed through Britain, or even the United States, increasing expenses and delivery times. About 75 percent of African Internet traffic is routed this way and costs African countries billions of extra dollars each year that they would not incur if their infrastructure was up to speed. ....... Prices remain high because the national telecommunications linked to the cable maintain a monopoly over access, squeezing out potential competitors. ..... Africa remains the least connected region in the world, and the digital gap between it and the developed world is widening rapidly. "Unless you can offer Internet access that is the same as the rest of the world, Africa can't be part of the global economy or academic environment" ..... "The benefits of the Internet age will bypass the continent." ..... Rwandan officials say the company seems more interested in tapping the more lucrative cellphone market than in being an Internet service provider. ...... The only way to do it is to buy bandwidth capacity on satellites, but there are not enough satellites to meet demand. ...... Terracom suffers from unrealistic expectations ..... Complicating the situation, Butare said, was that Wyler tried to run Terracom from the United States, visiting Rwanda just a few weeks at a time. He left day-to-day management to a poorly trained staff, Butare said. ...... Basic wireless Internet is about $63 a month. Those rich enough to pay the fees complain about poor service. ..... most of the satellites serving Africa were launched nearly 20 years ago and are aging or going out of commission. ...... Terracom is moving ahead with plans to give Rwanda the most advanced Internet infrastructure in Africa. A nationwide wireless connection should begin operating near year-end, he said, about the time a nonprofit group, One Laptop Per Child, based in Boston, is to introduce a $100 laptop in the country. ...... Bakuramutsa said he hopes to bring the price of Internet service down to about $10 a month.
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Google pledges $4.6bn to free wireless spectrum VNUNet.com
Now Google wants to be a telco TelecomTV


1 comment:

Single Mom Seeking said...

Thanks for the poignant post.

And wow, did you create that collage?... With the black and white photo of my daughter and me in the middle? Very cool. I'd love to get a copy.

Maybe it's because I live in the S.F. Bay Area, but I don't know one single mom who does NOT vote. Across the board, all of my single mom friends and I are very political... and as yet, we all support Obama.