Obama, Romney Pursue Women Vote

Mitt Romney and President Obama spent much of Wednesday battling for the support of women voters — a form of electoral hand-to-hand combat that is likely to persist all the way to Nov. 6. As Time Magazine’s Michael Scherer put it , “there was no doubt about the winner of the second presidential debate: Women. Both candidates lurched onto the campaign trail Wednesday with new appeals to shore up support among a key demographic that may decide the outcome in key swing states.” And ABC News political analyst Nicolle Wallace said on “Good Morning America” today that “all women are making trade-offs with both of these guys. I don’t think men — but particularly women — were attracted to the nastiness in that debate. Women, more than men, are turned off when it gets below the belt”/ Michael Falcone & Amy Walter , ABC News. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Why does the media and candidates try to focus on women as a monolithic group that can be pidgeon-holed rather than a widely diverse group that simply shares gender?