Republican pollster and pundit Kellyanne Fitzpatrick said politicians must realize "talk is cheap and women are the first ones to figure that out" during a speech last night in 3 Rockefeller Center.
Fitzpatrick said women are looking for four things in both their lives and government: simplicity, security, solvency and solutions.
She criticized some politicians for believing that, to reach women voters, candidates must speak differently to them.
The best way to reach out to women is to show the contrast between parties or candidates, Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick credited women with leading the charge away from single-issue elections. Women want specific information or solutions to problems, she said.
The most pivotal voter bloc, which Fitzpatrick called the "embattled baby-boomer women," responds to candidates discussing themes including quality of life, fairness and long-term security.
She outlined several features of the gender gap, which Fitzpatrick said she addresses frequently in her consulting work.
Women and men view the role of government differently, she said. While men see government as a nuisance or an instrument of fast change, women view government as leading a slow progression.
"Women want government to act as a referee, not a regulator," Fitzpatrick said.
She said differences in the way men and women receive political information also contribute to voting disparities.
Men get their information from reading newspapers, while women get it from the three major news networks or CNN, she said. This results in women knowing more about local events than men, who know more about national issues.
Fitzpatrick said, if women perceive a candidate lacks compassion, fewer women will vote for that candidate.
Women also view the use of force by politicians differently depending on the candidate's gender, she said.
Women are less trusting of other women on issues of foreign policy and national security, Fitzpatrick said.
Women tend to vote pro-incumbent, she said. In addition, they do not vote for many women candidates.
"Women aren't kind to other women," she said.
Fitzpatrick said one has to look at politics as a response to cultural changes. Women don't wake up as a party label but as an individual, she said.
People don't expect to respond to politics, but expect politics to respond to them, she said.
