Single white female, 21, politically aware, non-smoker, left-leaning but critical of all politicians. Stellar environmental voting record more important than long walks on the beach — I don’t like dirtying my shoes in oil slicks and dead birds.

Maybe you won’t see my personal ad in the classified section of the Daily. But the Democratic National Party has come courting, and I’m the one that they want. Why me? Well, apparently my appeal lies in my XX chromosomes and lack of a wedding band.

I guess I can throw away that copy of the “Rules” book I’ve been using as a doorstop.

There’s been a slew of articles recently, from The Nation to Arianna Huffington’s column, detailing the Democratic Party’s desire to appeal to single female voters.

Sixty-two percent of married women voted in 2000, compared to 43 percent of single women (The Guardian). Six million registered single women didn’t vote in 2000, in an election that came down to a half million votes (Salon.com).

Ignoring the “Sex and the City” tags that clever editors have attached to this demographic — really, is it necessary to assume every woman wants to be Carrie Bradshaw? Some of us like a little brains with our Blahniks — the statisticians are onto something. Too bad they don’t know what to do next.

That’s because you can’t classify 22 million people — the number of registered single female voters in 2000. Or 16 million people — the number of unregistered single female voters in 2000.

But since it’s agreed that single women have been overwhelmingly ignored (apparently you have to be married to be a “soccer mom”), let’s take a look at some of the suggestions.

“Women’s Voices, Women’s Vote” is “a project to determine how to increase the share of unmarried women in the electorate and develop a set of messages to motivate their participation,” according to the Web site, www.wvwv.com.

They acknowledge the difficulties in accomplishing this, the diversities of views and incomes and choices.

In two focus groups of infrequent single women voters (one of white mothers age 25-44, one of black women) conducted in St. Louis earlier this year by the project, a single phrase dominated much of the conversation.

It wasn’t health care, abortion, education, or even tax cuts. It was a desire to hear from people who understand where they are coming from, or “have walked in their shoes.”

This was interspersed with skepticism about the effectiveness of voting (one black woman said she didn’t vote because she felt it didn’t count and cited the 2000 election as proof positive), the researchers’ realization that reminding women of their civic responsibilities isn’t enough — it’s just “not a priority for them to engage in a system that they feel does not listen to them or has let them down” — along with a general feeling that elections were predetermined by political insiders.

But back to the shoes.

It’s embarrassing when more than 50 percent of the population is represented by 13.6 percent of the seats in the 108th Congress.

No, not every politician needs to have a pair of matching pumps.

But how many politicians have done more than pay lip service to women? I’m not just talking about those conveniently categorized “women’s issues” — word to your blue-blood mother, John Kerry, men care about education and child care, too.

“There’s a misconception that if you say ‘abortion’ a couple of times and get teary when you talk about Iraq that you are going to have the chick vote in your pocket,” said Karen Catchpole, senior editor at Jane magazine in the Salon article.

“That’s simplistic and insulting, to think that just because they’re women doesn’t mean they’re not interested in the economy.”

Catchpole rightfully dismisses the idea that women can be reached by hanging out in malls or handing out morning-after pills.

She instead recommends “laying off the WWF Smackdown-inspired oratorial stylings.”

“Most male candidates speak in terms of power and ‘beat the other guy,'” she said.

“They focus on a warlike scenario when it comes to voting, and that’s not the most inspirational tone to take with a 23-year-old woman who’s got bills to pay and has a job to hold down. But that’s not to say that you should use cool words and get a better wardrobe. The secret isn’t to be a woman. The secret is: Don’t be a moron.”

A correction to the print article: The website referred to should be www.wvwv.org