Here's why Bush did so well among female voters

[UWS]

In 2000, Al Gore won the female vote by 11 percentage points over George W. Bush.

Yet four years later, Bush drastically increased his showing among female voters as he won 48 % of the female vote while Kerry won that electorate by just 3 percentage points, one of the best performances for a Republican presidential candidate among female voters in modern history. According to the article below, it is because of the "security moms", whose main concern is keeping their families safe from terror in a time foreign policy and national security were the main issue of the 2004 election.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/23/uselections2004.usa

[UWS]

The Security Moms likely played a major role in bringing Dubya to the top in key states like Ohio (where 53 % of voters were female and Dubya won 50 % of them, a 5 % increase compared to 2000)

https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/OH/P/00/epolls.0.html