Smeal also said that in the case of the 25- to 44-year-old never-married woman, voting becomes less of a practical reality because "she is so damn busy all the time." Karen Catchpole, senior editor at Jane, which targets women in their 20s, said that it is just these kinds of practical realities that have turned women off to presidential politics. "Women respond to legitimate choice, and to a system that is trustworthy," she said. "We're busy. We don't have time to go out and play some kind of crazy power game." Catchpole said that in the surveys Jane has conducted as part of the magazine's faux "Jane Pratt For President 2004" campaign -- which includes a voter registration link on its home page -- many readers admitted that they did not vote. But, Catchpole said, "what they said was basically, 'I would have gone to vote if there was someone who wasn't a moron to choose.'" So, she continued, "if we legitimately believed that Bush cronies and dangling chads weren't going to undermine the choices we made, and if there was a candidate who wasn't a moron ..." the ladies might get out the vote.

Well, sure. But back here on planet Earth, what could the candidates do to reach single women and make them listen? Catchpole said, "It's not like they should start thinking 'let's do a mall tour because we're going to talk to women.'" She paused, and said with audible disgust, "By the way, I'm 100 percent sure that that idea has come up, and that's just offensive." She's also not keen on the idea that women are really only interested in voting on "soft" issues like reproductive rights. "There's a misconception that if you say 'abortion' a couple of times and get teary when you talk about Iraq that you are going to have the chick vote in your pocket," said Catchpole. "That's simplistic and insulting, to think that just because they're women doesn't mean they're not interested in the economy."

So rather than setting up polling locations at a Contempo Casuals in Paramus Park Mall or distributing morning-after pills on the stump, Catchpole suggested laying off the WWF Smackdown-inspired oratorial stylings. "Most male candidates speak in terms of power and 'beat the other guy,'" she said. "They focus on a warlike scenario when it comes to voting and that's not the most inspirational tone to take with a 23-year-old woman who's got bills to pay and has a job to hold down. But that's not to say that you should use cool words and get a better wardrobe. The secret isn't to be a woman. The secret is: Don't be a moron."

Simon Doonan, creative director for Barneys New York, isn't so sure that there is any secret. Doonan, who prefaced his comments by noting that he has "one Manolo Blahnik plonked firmly in the camp" of the single babes he deals with every day, said darkly, "The 'Sex and the City' single women are never going to take an interest in politics. They are so completely mired in fashion and style and self-indulgence. They have, maybe quite wisely, decided to center their entire lives on themselves. They're very inwardly focused; they make random attempts at caring about the world by going to yoga class." Doonan added that youthful political indifference is the inevitable result of the celebrity-lubricated dumb-down of the electorate. "The Blahnik-wearing Gen X chick's only glancing connection with politics is that she's heard it's groovy to hate George Bush," he said. "Hollywood celebrities have given people the impression that politics is a bumper sticker ... But it's not just about saying 'George Bush is a scum-bag' over and over again, or wearing a Katherine Hamnet T-shirt."

Elle editor in chief Roberta Myers was more politic in her diagnosis of a similar singleton trait -- self-absorption. "Once you have children," she said, "you are invested in the community more, and you feel more of a personal impact about the way your government behaves," she said, emphasizing that she wasn't implying that "young single women aren't serious and don't care about the world. It's just that they are more personally oriented. When you have children your relationship to the bigger world changes and the fact that women are waiting longer to have children because they are doing other things means that they are going to be a little more apathetic about politics." She also said that the younger generation has inherited a less idealized view of the American government from parents disillusioned by Watergate and Vietnam. "Young people don't seem as dewy-eyed about the Constitution and the beauty of democracy as previous generations were," she said. As for how candidates could catch the eyes of single women, Myers said that in practical terms, "One thing the Kerry campaign could do is get John Edwards [as the vice-presidential candidate]." She was quick to add, "not just because John Edwards is cute. It's that he's got a magnetism, and you can hear the message a little more easily. It's true that you actually pay more attention to people who are compelling speakers and deft with language."

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