National Polls on Palin No Surprise to this Feminist

Is anyone really surprised that the first two national polls find that adding Gov. Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket gains LESS support from women? I'm not, and neither are any of the women I've been emailing with over the weekend.

Editor & Publisher reports:

The first national polls on John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin yesterday came out today from Rasmussen and Gallup -- and contrary to what the GOP probably hoped, she scored less well with women than men.

Here's a finding from Gallup: Among Democratic women -- including those who may be disappointed that Hillary Clinton did not win the Democratic nomination -- 9% say Palin makes them more likely to support McCain, 15% less likely.

From Rasmussen: Some 38% of men said they were more likely to vote for McCain now, but only 32% of women. By a narrow 41% to 35% margin, men said she was not ready to be president -- but women soundly rejected her, 48% to 25%.

The Sunday morning talking heads had lots of theories about why McCain picked Palin. Some claimed it was to appeal to Clinton supporters, while others doubted that any serious Clinton supporter would embrace a candidate who is anti-abortion and pro-NRA.

Others claimed McCain did it in an attempt to "shake things up" and to "reclaim his Maverick status." This could be very true, as we all know how short-sighted Republicans tend to be! The buzz since Friday has been all about Sarah Palin.

But still others think McCain did it to shore up his support among evangelicals -- the base of his party that has not truly embraced him. Tony Perkins, of Focus on the Family, in an interview with a cable news network indicated Palin's conservative stance on social issues would make her a welcomed addition to the ticket.

So let's think about this for a moment. McCain needed help wooing the religious right ... and he needed help getting support from men. Could the MSM be wrong when they claim this selection was all about Hillary Clinton?

Gov. Palin did reference Sen. Clinton in her introduction speech on Friday. But when she mentioned Clinton's name during a campaign stop on Saturday it went over like a lead balloon. Those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling don't appear to carry much weight with a Republican crowd (of glass manufacturers!).

Let me share with you why I would not consider voting for Gov. Sarah Palin: 1) She's anti-abortion, 2) opposes marriage equality, 3) and thinks creationism should be taught in public school science classes (which probably means she also opposes stem cell research), and 4) she's a member of the NRA. That's enough to disqualify her in my opinion.

And as to whether or not she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency -- take THAT up with John McCain, and examine HIS judgement to lead. Does he really think -- as stated by Cindy McCain on This Week with George Stephanopoulos this morning -- that Gov. Palin has national security experience because Alaska is next to Russia? Good grief!

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