By Mary Sanchez

Read the original article at The Modesto Bee.

The proverbial question for men has long been, "What do women want?" Well, I'm here to reveal the carefully guarded secret - at least to two men, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain. The rest of you fellas will have to keep guessing. (OK, I'll throw a bone here: Recognize in women the things they value in themselves.) Back to more substantial matters for our presidential hopefuls: Women voters, especially the unmarried ones, are the demographic key to this year's election. If you want their votes, you will have to approach them with respect and insight. Drop the reductive labels that diminish women into voting blocs - recall "soccer moms"? Few women can be packaged so neatly.

So far, neither Obama nor McCain has garnered a strong majority of potential female voters. A recent poll of women found 49 percent were for Obama and 38 percent were for McCain. Presumably, at least some of those women's minds might be changed either way before November. Add the less adamantly loyal voters to the other 10 percent of women polled who labeled themselves as undecided. (The poll was part of the Every Woman Counts campaign done by Lifetime Networks.) The votes of these women, gentlemen, are enough to decide the election.

Obama and McCain also should forget about nominating a woman running mate if this is merely a means to court the female vote. We don't care.

A majority of the women polled by Lifetime said the VP's gender was of no consequence to them. They still believe they will soon see a female president, even if it's not this go-around.

The candidates should also beware of regarding their own lovely spouses as somehow representative of women generally. Most women are not securely married, nor blessed with the financial plenty Cindy and Michelle enjoy.

Consider that more than half of the nation's households are run by an unmarried woman. The candidate who speaks too heavily in the language of suburbia, with its two-car garages for a mom and a dad with kids, risks alienating a whopping 53 million women are unmarried and of voting age.

This is a massive demographic that oddly doesn't seem to merit much courting. In fact, these women are addressed so stereotypically that the effort is more likely to turn them away from, rather than toward, a politician.

Unmarried women can be many different types: 20-somethings with a child; middle-aged women who are divorced and caring for children, and perhaps aging parents as well; a woman living with a man in a committed relationship but without the legal benefits of marriage; or a widowed woman attempting to live on Social Security and whatever savings she and her deceased husband saved.

So spare us the banter that panders to the young, unmarried female clutching her meager savings as she awaits Prince Charming. Your voter-to-be might be looking for Mr. Right, but she's also likely got a job to attend to, or children, or parents, or a mortgage - maybe all of the above. Many married women voters likely have that same list of duties.

Which is why jobs and the economy are the top concern of women in the Every Woman Counts poll, followed by the Iraq war, health care, prescription drugs and education. Talk of our future, but specifically about how you will reshape society to fit the reality for women today. And yes, that speaks to this election's favored buzzword, "change." That said, there is no doubt that with women voters, substance - not just the delivery - will be increasingly important as November nears.

Women are adept at spotting fakers. We know when a man is lying about his bank account, prestigious job, love of his mother, the role he played in a divorce and whether he really scored the winning goal. Don't try to con us.

Your bid for the White House depends on it.