Aug 31st, 2008 at 10:45 am
Women More Skeptical of Palin Than Men
I don’t think this is very mysterious. Women and men have, on average, different political opinions with women being generally more left-wing than men are. Since Sarah Palin is very conservative, you’d expect women to be more dubious about her. Given a choice between two candidates with similar views on the issues (i.e., Obama v. Clinton) you see women flocking toward the woman, but given a choice between two tickets with very different views (i.e., Obama-Biden vs. McCain-Palin) women will back the more progressive ticket.
45 Responses to “Women More Skeptical of Palin Than Men”
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August 31st, 2008 at 10:53 am
could it also be the case that women are less impressed by a pretty face?
you know, matt, not every one is as policy-driven in their political judgements as you are. shocking, but true.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:00 am
No surprise. Palin is a “mans woman”. The kind of woman who is totally male focused. Women hate it when women get ahead based on the way the woman affects male hormones.
So many women love Hillary because she is her own person. She’s a fighter. She stands up for herself and others.
I’m not a PUMA. I have mixed feelings about Hillary, but I see her strengths and positive attributes. I support Obama who I find truly inspirational. Palin leaves me dumbfounded. Mostly I can’t believe the arrogance of John McCain and the contempt for the office of President that he has shown in that choice.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:07 am
And, as a woman, let’s face it, we women are really hard on each other. And catty. I admit to being a little “oh, a beauty queen, let me guess, her foreign policy platform is that she’s for world peace…” But, seriously, I think as a woman, I want to see someone really, really accomplished as the first woman in a VP or Presidental office. She doesn’t strike me as that accomplished. At least not yet. Maybe at the end of her term as Governor and maybe with a term in national politics.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:31 am
Women have historically NOT preferred left wing politicians in Britain or Australia. There, the gender gap ran in the opposite direction to the USA & Canada for many decades. In Britain, it was Tony Blair who closed the gender gap by making Labour appear mainstream and reasonable. Women in all countries are turned off my militants and ideologues (yes, even Thatcher was less militant than 1980s Labour). This is the opposite pattern to the US/Canada, where the right wing parties have the more visible ideologues.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:34 am
cocky roberts on ABC this weeks seems to like her a lot. That’s all John McCain needs.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:35 am
Re Matthew’s comment “women will back the more progressive ticket”
————–
Speaking as a man who’s been married for several decades, I don’t think you should try to predict what women will do if you don’t have a vagina.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:38 am
The pick is such an obvious and cynical pander that I would assume many women would feel insulted by it hence the lower poll ratings.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
She’s a dream woman for the kind of office slug who loves Fox News and makes up the conservative base. That’s how she’s going to work. She’ll give the spear carriers and Rush listeners a reason to feel glad when they head for the polls. In other words her positive effects for the campaign will be real but on the margins.
Her negative effects will be much greater. Unless the Democrats just can’t play their hand–which seems unlikely–she will come across to non-Rushites as a nice woman who is not at all ready to be president. And the Democrats, if they’re smart, will keep bringing the issue back to what was McCain thinking. “He said ready on day one and, look, she’s got Iran and Iraq mixed up and they want her back in Alaska to testify in that trooper scandal and what did she mean when she said we shouldn’t use condoms and does she really think McCain might be wrong about global warming?”
She’s easy to like, but she comes with a lot of explanations. McCain gave a 100% guarantee of a VP ready to be president. She’s a lot of things but ready is not one of them. So does he even know what he’s saying?
Such should be the Democrats’ themes.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Look,
Vagina-Americans–it’s time to unite. Enough! McPain in 08!
August 31st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
She’s a right-winger’s calendar girl.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Cokie Roberts may like her, Gregor, but Cokie doesn’t realize that either Hawaii or Alaska are part of the USA.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Not to mention that women hate women.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Women are less likely to be patronizing toward women.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Women are much less worried about being called a sexist pig if they say something bad about a woman.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
McCain wanted a conservative woman– it’s just a weird coincidence that the one he chose was the youngest and prettiest and least experienced of the possibilities. And it’s only those liberal ’starts with a b and rhymes with ditches’ who would complain about it.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:58 pm
As a woman who actually wants the next administration to be viewed as at least a partner in dialogue with the rest of the world, this is a horrifically embarassing VP choice. The rest of the world wants a vice president who has wrestled with what it means to be an international leader, to say the least.
When the rest of the world has elected impressive female world leaders–Margaret Thatcher, Michelle Bachelet, Angela Merkel, Golda Mier, who made it without their husbands or fathers; Benazir Bhutto, Cristina Kirchner, Violeta Chamorro, Gloria Aquino, whose family connections helped them but who were/are incredibly strong, accomplished women in their own right–this choice is just profoundly embarrasing.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I wonder how much of that is due to our right-wingers’ paleo social positions. I think that if both parties passed universal health care, supported equal pay for equal work and agreed that abortion and contraception were here to stay (all positions present in ’80s Britain and AFAIK Australia) then we might see a very different breakdown in gender voting. But as long as one party is fundamentally committed to the idea that women are second-class citizens, well, the resulting gender gap ain’t hard to explain.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Re: Women have historically NOT preferred left wing politicians in Britain or Australia. There, the gender gap ran in the opposite direction to the USA & Canada for many decades.
That’s because European leftwingers are very far to the left by American standards. The typical Euorpean moderate would be a thorough-going liberal in America, and even European conservatives, for the most part, would not be out of place in our Democratic party.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Women have traditionally been considered a more conservative voting bloc than men, at least on social/family issues and particularly in Catholic countries. Part of this is related to the fact that women are more religious and, more specifically, tend to be more dedicated to organized religious institutions than men. Women were less likely than men to vote for Allende, or for the French Socialist party, and in general for candidates of the socialist left in most countries.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’m also not sure why social liberals would assume that women would be more supportive of pro-choice candidates than men. It seems to me that the biggest beneficiaries of legalized abortion are immoral men who would like to use women for casual sex and dispose of the concequences. I doubt many women really initiate the demand for abortions. In truth, women in the US are actually more likely than men to be pro-life. I believe they are also somewhat more likley than men to be pro-choice, and less likely to be neutral on the issue.
The underlying issue is probably that women are by nature more empathetic and more moved by interpersonal relationships (including the natural mother-child bond) than men, and less interested in abstract principles like “freedom” or “liberty” or “choice”. I would think this is an innate difference, and the idea that it’s a social construct is beyond absurd.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:13 pm
New CNN poll, the first with both tickets complete: Obama-Biden 49, McCain-Palin 48. Looks like a jump ball, and I like our tenacious point guard better than their wimpy, rail-thin 3-point shooter. No doubt she could beat him one-on-one and make him like it.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Ron has it right, I think. I am a woman, many friends were Hillary supporters. They are to a person offended by McCain’s choice – Palin jumped over other(older, less attractive, more qualified) women; she does not share Hillary’s (or their) values. It is such an obvious pander and effort to get women to vote for McCain because, wow, he chose a woman. As if values, political positions, and preparedeness to lead count for nothing. If it works, it is evidence of how dumb the electorate is.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:53 pm
BJC, he’s not really after the NOW types who think abortion is a sacrament. Many middle-class and blue-collar women and men who are not highly political and who think Obama’s messiah shtick is a bit gay will vote for McCain-Palin. Heartland values beat Hyde Park values every time except in the blue enclaves.
Most of these voters don’t even know that state senator Obama twice killed the Illinois Born-Alive Child Protection Act that would have prevented abortion doctors from killing babies who survive unsuccessful abortions by withholding medical care. Obama lied about his position recently, and I can’t wait to see him challenged on it. Even the most fervent advocates of abortion typically don’t support murdering babies once they’re born. A similar bill passed the U.S. Senate 92-0, with Barbara Boxer speaking in its favor.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Oh, Hector! Ya killz me.
I’ve been phone banking for Planned Parenthood, and (according to our 24-year old organizer) polls show that the public is dangerously misinformed about McCain’s stance on women’s rights.
People hear “maverick” and interpret “pro-choice republican” rather than “breaks with party to oppose birth control”.
As women hear this is the anti-condom ticket, they’ll turn.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Unfortunately, too many of my immoral contemporaries are willing to “eat their young” (a metephor for aborting their offspring) rather than suffer major inconveniences. That said, I have received several calls from a couple of sweet leftard friends and a rabid Hillary Clinton sister-in-law (what was my brother thinking????) who are backing McCain. Sis-in-law confessed she has NEVER considered boting for a Repub until McCain chose an “independent, decisive woman” (her words – not mine). She was profoundly disappointed that Palin is “pro-life” but is more disgusted with Hillary’s treatment by former friends in the leftard media and the Obamessiah’s campaign……
NObama ‘08
August 31st, 2008 at 11:41 pm
BJC – Inquiring minds want to know – - WHAT exactly are progressive “values”? (I promise not to laugh out lous when I read your answer!)
August 31st, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Tinare, you’re right – some women have a tendency to be catty. The good news…..REAL men will love Palin. Those guys with enough testosterone and confidence will adore her strong “partnership” personality. You have to admit, it beats the hell out of many of our “sisters” “I am Woman Hear Me Whine” roles…..
Tooodles….NObama ‘08
September 1st, 2008 at 5:24 am
even European conservatives, for the most part, would not be out of place in our Democratic party.
Actually, the strong commitment of most European conservatives to universal health care, generous social spending, and a UN-centred foreign policy would make them very out of place in the Democratic party.
December 14th, 2008 at 12:46 am
This morning on KSEE Sunrise Theodore Kuchar, music director of the Fresno Philharmonic, talked with us about internationally acclaimed violinist Sarah Chang and her upcoming visit to Fresno. No crystal ball is needed to see the future of
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