Walmart women and the swing voters.

Cindy won't win over the working class swing voters with that outfit. Non-relatable.

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 just 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."

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.

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.
Read on.