| As a result of the Associated Press story released on October
2000, dozens of newspapers throughout the nation carried the AP story the next day.
Although there is no way to determine in just how many cities it was published, we have
confirmed that it ran in the following papers: 
Salt Lake Tribune, Pasadena Star News, Journal-World (KS), Courier News
(IL), Denver Post, Journal Register (IL), Washington Times (DC), Coloradoan, Birmingham
News (AL), Times-Picayune(LA), Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Virginian Pilot, Detroit News,
Daily Southtown, Journal News (OH), and the Topeka Capital-Journal.
This widespread newspaper coverage, in turn, generated guest appearances by AASP
executive director Thomas F. Coleman on several radio talk shows, including:
Victoria Jones show (WMAL in DC), Jack Jackson show (WMAY in
Springfield, IL), Paul Sullivan show (WBZ in Boston), John Rago Show (WDEL in Delaware),
the Larry Elder show (KABC in Los Angeles), and the Mark Roberts show (WERC in Birmingham,
AL).
Renowned CBS news correspondent, Charles Osgood, included a segment about our ad
campaign on his nationally syndicated show.
An interview with Thomas Coleman was broadcast by the Austrian Broadcasting
Corporation’s English language radio station FM4.
The first television coverage occurred when WVEC-TV in Norfolk ran a segment about our
ad campaign on its 11:00 p.m. news hour. Then came the Tonight Show, with Jay Leno using
the campaign to poke some fun at Bill Clinton and the Democrats.
Shepard Smith did a live interview with Coleman on Fox News, with a subsequent news
segment on Fox two days later. MS-NBC also interviewed Coleman. Charles Osgood delivered
his poetic news commentary on the Early Morning Show on NBC.
The news coverage had some slight impact on the presidential race, with Dick Cheney
finally mentioning single people in the vice-presidential debate. The Democrats had Mrs.
Lieberman send a signal to single people in Michigan where she told a group of supporters
that even though the Democrats were focusing heavily on families in the presidential race,
single people were important too and should not be ignored. |
|
Moderator Jim Lehrer picked up on the issue when he selected
a woman in the audience of the final presidential debate who asked the candidates what
they would do in their tax plans to help her, a middle-class single person without
dependents. Both men struggled to answer the question. 
Online magazine Salon.com sponsored a Youth Debate two days before the campaign ended.
AASP member Deroy Murdock was a co-moderator. He asked Al Gore and George W. Bush why they
had neglected to speak to single people. Neither of them had a good response. Ralph Nader
had declined to participate in the event.
Deroy Murdock
Marital Status Plays Role in Election
A national exit poll conducted by Voter News Service for the major media showed a
significant "marital status" gap in presidential voting patterns. (See
Table 1)
Some 35% of those who cast ballots were unmarried. Most unmarried voters chose Al Gore.
A Los Angeles Times national exit poll showed single women voting 66% for Gore, 4% for
Nader, and 30% for Bush. This fact caused conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr.
to advise the GOP to rethink its relationship with single women. (See
National Review Article.)
The Los Angeles Times poll showed single men splittting 48% for Gore, 45% for Bush, and
7% for Nader.
Table 1
Are you
married? |
All
Voters |
Voted for
Gore |
Voted for Bush |
Voted for Nader |
Yes |
65% |
44% |
53% |
2% |
No |
35% |
57% |
38% |
4% |
| Voter News Service national
exit poll of 13,130 respondents |
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