Is there a rule somewhere that identifying a new political bloc requires a cutesy name? I suppose so, because Amy Gershkoff at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner has written about a new group that gives Dems a fighting chance with married women this November: the "SUV Moms."

Despite the annoying moniker, "Goodbye Security Moms, Hello SUV Moms" highlights what could be a growing awareness of the relationship between global security and the ability to sustain a family and keep the car filled with gas. Gershkoff writes:

In 2004, motivated by terrorism, concerns over their children’s safety, and a range of family values’ issues, so-called “Security Moms” gave Republican Congressional candidates a sizable edge, and moms voted for Bush over Kerry by a 14-point margin. But today, America’s moms are giving Democrats a 15-point lead. Why have these voters migrated leftward?

The answer is simple: many of last cycle’s ‘Security Moms’ are now ‘SUV Moms.’ Our latest polling shows that the top national security concern for married women with children is no longer combating terrorism: it’s reducing dependence on foreign oil, and this is moving moms’ votes towards Democratic Congressional candidates.

...45 percent of moms cited energy as one of their top two national security concerns, with 29 percent citing it as their number one priority; in fact, when asked their most important national security priority, they put reducing dependence on foreign oil ahead of terrorism, the war in Iraq, securing our ports, nuclear plants and chemical factories, addressing dangerous countries like Iran and North Korea, and preventing the spread of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. Only 12 percent of supposed ‘Security Moms’ cited “combating terrorism” as their top national security priority, and only 27 percent listed it as one of their top two priorities. Even with gas prices declining in the last few weeks, the September Democracy Corps poll showed moms’ concern about reducing dependence on foreign oil holding steady at 44 percent.

Additionally, polling conducted the first week of October shows that not only is energy the top national security concern for America’s moms, it’s a top economic concern as well: roughly one in every three moms cited gas prices as their primary economic concern, edging out the cost of retirement and the availability of good jobs.

...for many moms, energy and security are linked: nearly two-thirds of moms report that they are concerned about dependence on Middle East oil because having to depend on unstable areas in the Middle East for our oil undermines our security, while a third said that they were concerned about our dependence on Middle East oil because it keeps gas prices high for American consumers.

Al Gore is smiling somewhere. But he shouldn't take all the credit. People vote because they are worried about THEIR families, THEIR futures, and not always those of the larger world. Bush won in 2004 largely because he made married women feel safe, what with his landing on the aircraft carrier, large codpiece and all. No matter. To me, this study shows that women's view of safety is more wholistic, more real, more in tune with the true strains of our foreign policy, our wallets, and perhaps even our natural resources.