In 2004, George Bush beat out John Kerry for the White House by just over three million votes.

The 2008 race is bound to be a close one, as well. I know the candidates are a little preoccupied with Iowa and New Hampshire at the moment, but with a margin of victory so slim, wouldn’t you think that the candidates would be interested in over seven and a half million women who will probably be voting?

Catherine Morgan at Informed Voters can’t believe that those of us who write and read blogs are being ignored by the candidates.

And Erin at Queen of Spain is banging her head against the internet firewall.

Why?

Because it seems that invitation after invitation to answer questions or interact with BlogHer, an organization made up of thousands of women bloggers, is being ignored. Blown off.

With one notable exception, even the candidates spouses aren’t listening to us.

I’m getting just a teensy bit annoyed that those who want to be president don’t want to engage us on any significant level. Would it be any different if the majority of women bloggers lived in, say, Iowa? New Hampshire? No need to answer that one.

But I keep coming back to the question of ‘why?’ Is it that most of the candidates just are so behind the technological times that they have no clue that this community exists? Or are they unaware that we’re out here talking about issues and wondering who is the best person to put our country back together?

If I was Republican homeschooler backing Mike Huckabee, I’d be getting lots of press, and candidate, attention.

So what’s the solution? Perhaps if we rely on the old ‘don’t get angry, get even’ addage, they’ll sit up and take notice. And by that I mean voting is the best revenge. If a candidate is taking me for granted as a voter and as a political voice, then I want to make sure that candidate isn’t even getting my consideration. Lots of us stay at home and don’t vote. But what if we all voted next year? What if we exercised that right and really made our voices heard, be they blue, red or purple? You can bet that we would never be taken for granted again.

Just as our husband’s need a little reminder from time to time that we don’t like it when they forget we’re the ones who keep our family lives running, it’s time for the candidates to get a reminder that we’re here and we’re paying attention and, contrary to what some think, we don’t just follow our spouses’ leads at voting time. If they don’t want to hear it now, they can hear it when we speak through the ballot box.

What do you think? Does it matter to you that the candidates don’t want to take the time to address the questions of the vast range of women out here in the blogosphere? Or are you just as happy to be left alone during the campaign?