Copyright 2008 Denver Publishing Company

September 6, 2008 Saturday
Final Edition

NEWS; Pg. 17NEWS

869 words

Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News

So long, soccer moms. Welcome, Wal-Mart women - this year's quintessential swing voters.

Women like Deborah Davis, 55, of Lakewood, who lives with her ailing mom and finds herself walking into Wal-Mart at least twice a week.

Women like Nancy Williams, 58, of Wheat Ridge, who has been on a fixed disability income for 14 years and needs to make it stretch as far as possible.

And women like Robin Essington-Aragon, 41, of Lakewood, a single mom who bargain shops just to make ends meet.

These women and millions of others like them are the voters presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have to court: the 17 percent of the electorate who regularly shop at the world's largest retailer, a large enough bloc to influence who ends up in the White House, pollsters say.

So just who is the Wal-Mart woman?

"The Reagan Democrat," said Lori Weigel of Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm. "We're just calling them something cute and different today."

Her firm's Web site puts it this way: "If Tony Soprano's job really was in waste disposal, then his wife might be in this category. Women who shop at Wal-Mart once a week or more tend to be lower income, less well-educated and more likely to work in hourly wage jobs or be retired than their counterparts who primarily shop at Target."

Who fits the mold

Often single moms or retirees, the Wal-Mart woman might remain undecided until late in the game. Right now, she's got the economy at the top of her presidential to-do list, Weigel said.

"They're strained economically," she said. "You get people living paycheck to paycheck."

They tend to be white, more conservative, more religious and more likely to identify themselves as Democrats - by a 14 percent margin. But they supported President Bush in 2004 by that same margin.

Nancy Williams is one of these women. The Wheat Ridge resident said she's a registered Democrat who voted twice for Bush, adored Ronald Reagan and supported Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

"McCain is a good man, don't get me wrong," said Williams, who was at the Lakewood Wal-Mart on a recent morning. "But he's a big-time politician. Let's get somebody who has insight into what it's like to live and struggle every day.

"Obama's fresh. He's got new ideas. He's more like the guy next door, the person you'd be able to go up to and say, 'I like how your lawn is. What did you put on it?' You wouldn't approach John McCain or George Bush that way."

Wal-Mart women helped elect Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate and helped her win the Ohio presidential primary, and they might find it easy to relate to McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Weigel said.

"This is a direct appeal to that constituency," she said. "Not just because of gender, but because she's a self-described hockey mom; she's dealing with family issues, dealing with a job."

Essington-Aragon struggles with more than her share of issues as a single mom of five children, one of whom is disabled. She lives in Section 8 housing, scrapes by on $446 a month and believes that government has forgotten people like her. She's not optimistic that anything's going to change, no matter who's elected.

"Everybody wants to worry about the rich and working class, and they forget about those who can't work because their children have special needs," Essington-Aragon said as she sat outside Wal-Mart, where she goes once a week for groceries.

"Unfortunately, in our society, unless you're married or wealthy, you can't survive."

Her vote will go to McCain, she said, partly because of social issues such as gay marriage, which she opposes, and partly because she's a lifelong Republican. "At least with the Republicans, you know what you're getting," Essington-Aragon said.

Plenty of worries

Deborah Davis thinks it's great that the Republicans have chosen a woman, but she considers Palin woefully unqualified at a time when it's imperative to fix an economy she calls the worst she's ever seen.

The Lakewood woman lives with her mom, who is recuperating from an illness, and economizes by shopping at Wal-Mart two or three times a week, going to Goodwill and taking advantage of King Soopers' specials.

"At my apartment complex, one of my neighbors is worried about food. Another neighbor is worried if her daughter is sick, how's she going to pay for groceries? Lots of people need health coverage who don't have it and a lot who do have it don't have enough," said Davis, a self-described independent who voted for Bush the first time around.

So where's her vote going in November?

"To me, Barack Obama is an old wise man in a young man's body," she said. "He has a lot of wisdom. He's very articulate. He's also able to listen to everyone, gather all the information and then make a decision.

"McCain comes from the rich," Davis said. "He has no idea what the typical average person is going through right now. I was appalled that he didn't know how many houses he has."

Speaking of houses, the closest Wal- Mart to the White House is more than seven miles away. But then, there won't be a Wal-Mart woman living there, no matter who wins.

Cindy McCain doesn't fit the profile, no matter where she buys her groceries. And Michelle Obama has said she shops at Target.

Ryckmanl@RockyMountainNews.com Election, politics, democrats, republicans, john mccain, barack obama, ronald reagan, george bush, wal-mart, income, economy

Photo (3), Robin Essignton-Aragon JUDY DEHAAS / THE ROCKY CAPTION: Nancy Williams JUDY DEHAAS / THE ROCKY CAPTION: Deborah Davis JUDY DEHAAS / THE ROCKY

September 11, 2008