Hillary supporters (esp. women): Is McCain's VP choice tempting, or insulting?

Question

McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as running mate, is seen as a bid for the votes of women and disaffected Hillary supporters. (Take away that reason, and the choice of Palin is utterly baffling.) I.e. that Palin and Hillary are polar *OPPOSITES* as far as issues, is less important to women and Hillary supporters, than the mere fact of her gender.

Personally, I can't imagine a more insulting, condescending, patronizing message for McCain to be sending women and Hillary supporters, at the very time he is courting them. McCain is basically saying "We all know that you don't really have an actual political opinion in you pretty little heads ... you didn't actually know or care what Hillary was *saying* or what she stood for ... you will vote for *ANY* woman regardless of name recognition, qualifications, or political views." It is a *colossal* insult by McCain!

But then ... I'm not a woman.

Do women see this differently?

(Please limit your answers to my question. My question is purely about the message being perceived by women or Hillary supporters with the choice by McCain of a female running mate. Does that actually work??)

Answer 1

i hope its insulting...

omg

"Most of her supporters don't care. Most of them despise Obama because of the sexist tactics he used in the campaign to destroy Hillary." thanks for outlining the sexist tactics...

if you havent noticed clinton isnt on the ticket so lets forget about all that and try to get her in the white house throught the CABINET...

Answer 2

Insulting.  She's anti-abortion, anti-g*y marriage and pro-gun. If you wanted to gain female votes, she wasn't the one to choose

Answer 3

i find it insulting. he chose a woman so he could get hillarys supporters, but people who were voting for her like her views not the fact that she was a woman. if mccain was going to choose a woman she should have been up to hillarys caliber and standards. in a nutshell he tried to get a republican hillary when there were other women that he could have chose that are better experienced then palin.

Answer 4

Most of her supporters don't care. Most of them despise Obama because of the sexist tactics he used in the campaign to destroy Hillary.

It's a protest vote not a issues vote for most of them.

Answer 5

Insulting.Why do men only pick women as running mates when they need a Hail Mary pass? It’s a little insulting.

Answer 6

Sorry that I don't exactly fit into your demographic as I'm not a woman, and though I admire Hillary Clinton, I've been an Obama supporter all along.

I just wanted to say that it appears that this pick was not ONLY about gender, although Palin congratulations to Hillary when she was being introduced to the country made this baldly obvious.

It is also said to be "electrifying" the conservative base who was very unhappy with McCain. This I really do not understand. There are a lot of issues that Palin is hard-core rightwing on, but several of these are issues where McCain claims his maverick label for opposing.

Anyway, it sure makes for interesting drama.

Answer 7

COMPLETELY insulting! That is so sexist, so manipulating, and it just makes me vote for Obama!

He didn't it because of her gender, and oil.

Answer 8

Sarah is not Hillary.

But think about this. If we vote for Sarah, and McCain wins, then in 2012 it will be Sarah against Hillary.  

Guess who will win!

Answer 9

I'm sure she's tempting to them, just not in a political sense.

Answer 10

very temping

Answer 11

Insulting.

Answer 12

An insult to the complexity and intelligence of women. Utterly ridiculous, almost laughably inappropriate and condescending. Stunning.

Answer 13

Defenitely not tempting...I was a Hilary supporter but am going to vote for Obama. I don't know why a woman who was a Hilary supporter would vote for McCain just because of Sarah Palin. I hope that doesn't happen.  

Answer 14

Hillary supporters are not a single thing.  They are 18 million people each with their own motivations for voting.  Some will be insulted and some will be delighted.

McCain made this pick at the behest of the Christian conservatives.  He did it not so much to woo Hillary supporters but rather to garner Evangelical Christians, who outnumber Hillary supporters.  

As for condescending and insulting, look at how the media and the DNC treated Hillary.  Did Obama even consider female governors like Kathleen Sebelius or Janet Napolitano?  Both are far more qualified to be president than anyone currently in the race.

Don't underestimate Palin's appeal.  I've seen quite a few elections and I have never seen the conservatives so fired up over a candidate.  Even Reagan didn't enjoy this much popularity.  

Feminism and liberalism aren't synonymous.  There are a lot of conservative women who would have voted for Hillary in the general election.  

Woman are 52% of the voters, and the only candidate on any ticket up to this point is Cynthia McKinney.  Why wouldn't one of the major parties have a woman on the ballot?  That question should be posed to the Democrats, not the Republicans.

Answer 15

from the two dozen or so women i have asked about this, most said pretty much what you said--they find it pandering at it's lowest level.  

Answer 16

As soon as she was appointed, I switched to McCain.

Palin is the only candidate that supports banning the birth control pill.

It's worth noting that Gov.Palin is a member of "Feminists for Life", an organization with members that openly support outlawing all "non-abortifacient contraception" (anything that stops implantation of the fertilized egg). http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ff...

Most women do not know that all BC pills kill  babies and here is how.

http://www.thepillkills.com/how.html

We may not be able to overturn Roe vs Wade but there is no constitutional right to the birth control pill.

As VP she could break a tie vote in the Senate, and explain this to the men in the Senate.

Since McCain's father did not live to 72 she will probably even be President.

Answer 17

Insulting. She is no Hillary... Not Even Close

Answer 18

tempting enough that she HAS our vote...thanks mccain...our redemption!

the ones that are saying "insulting" were the ones that voted against hillary...can't fool us.

Answer 19

insulting.

Palin has called Hillary a "whiner" and agrees with less than 20% of the population on abortion.  

Answer 20

Although, I am a man ... I can tell you that Sarah Palin was added to the campaign to bolster and re-energize the Conservative base that started a draft Sarah Palin for VP months ago.

Answer 21

That's not how some are seeing it...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

(Of course there's a bit of a bias there, but still...)

In any case the results should be interesting.

Always nice to get a glimpse of the great unknown: The female mind.

Answer 22

Insulting. This woman shares none of Hillary's viewpoints

Answer 23

Insulting. Its a horrible scheme to win woman voters and she is no Hillary.

Answer 24

insulting...does he honestly think that women are that stupid? I mean, why would we vote for someone just because she's a woman if she's against all that Hillary stood for?

Answer 25

Perhaps women aren't as blind as most seem to make them out to be.  I prefer to think women don't care so much about name recognition, gender or even how someone looks.  Perhaps, just perhaps, level headed women (and yes, there are plenty of them out there) actually will listen to what Palin has to say before making a jump to judgment.

Hillary's only experience was being married to a President.  She hasn't been a US Senator longer than Obama.  She may be a smart lawyer but I don't believe that makes for a good VP.

Palin is unknown to most of us, sure, but she didn't ride her husband's coattails.  She started in the PTA, moved to City Council, then mayor then governor and now VP candidate.  Sounds to me like exactly the path most women would like to see available to them and their daughters.  What can possibly be objectionable about THAT?

Let's stop the stereotyping.  Why do we assume black people would prefer to vote for another black person, women for a woman, etc?  

Have we lost our trust in fighting our battles in the arena of ideas?  For a country based on equality, freedom and mutual respect I sure don't understand where we get off finding ways to separate ourselves from each other.

...and, no, I'm not a woman.

Answer 26

As a non-female, non-US citizen, it looks to me that McCain has taken a decision which is more "damage control" than anything else. Hillary voters will eventually vote for Obama, once their obvious disappointment subsides, and following the resounding support (either real or forced) given to him by Hillary and Bill Clinton. McCain needed to have the female vote. He would not have got it if he had chosen a middle-aged man as VP.

Getting votes anywhere, not just the US, but here in Australia, is about casting a wide and diverse net. Choosing a female is about getting women to vote republican. Finding an anti-abortion-lobbying mother (of 5?) was also a good way of polarising the female vote. It makes women, and men, choose between two liberal pro-choice men, and a  woman who chooses to stand up for unborn babies. Apparently that is quite a big issue in the US, much bigger than here in Australia.

No doubt there will now be debates centred around these issues, as well as real policies.

So, overall, a survival strategy, based upon vote catching ability.

.

Answer 27

In the beginning I was for Mitt Romney, then Obama, but identified with Hillary. Well Mitt lost, Hillary was not even toned, too quick-tempered. That left Obama, but still liking Clinton. To answer the question. McCain just pissed me off. I feel like he gave in to pressure. But hey, he gave in as a POW, so what's one to expect!!

Answer 28

You don't have to dig too deep on the net to see that there are, in fact, many women who are wanting a woman in the White House. Most people are voting the issues, but there are people who's only issue is gender.

As for me, I could vote for any race or gender if I support what they stand for.

Answer 29

No it's extremely insulting. He classifies us as basically following our own gender. Which is completely moronic. He is too idiotic to even understand what Hilary Clintons ideas were so he just puts some unexperienced broad up for the game.

Which I find very funny that republicans still stick with McCain stating

"well he is still more experienced", McCains 72 people, he can die in a heartbeat.  

Answer 30

I don't think that most women are stupid as you seem to imply.  I was planning on McCain all along.  However, he was not my first choice.  With his pick of Sarah Palin I am 100% on board for him!  Had Obama picked Hillary- I still would not vote for him!

Answer 31

check this. i am a avid dyed in the wool Republican. this out fist sounded ludicrous be after considering some thing that have been perpetuated by McCain made me think. Bear with me, As a conservative this is killing me if it turn out to be accuratre, McCain is tryin to throw the Gen Election, if he happens to win he will as his the pulling of no party line (remember, in the senate there were three parties : the Dems, the Gop and McCain (a quote - google it). One in office, McCain is going to go schizo, sometime along repub's lines and some time the lib's line (like immigration reform.) Like the maverick he claims to be, who knows?

I am glad about the plethora thumbs down, I hope I am not right in considering McCain 08 !!!!