Will women support Palin?

[Playboypenguin]

IMHO, the selection of Palin was in part to attract female voters. Especially ones that were disappointed when Hilary did not receive the nomination.

Assuming for a minute that this is the case, or even if it isn't, will women support Palin?

I ask because I was talking to a friend awhile ago and his wife made the statement that she thinks women will not support Palin because she is "too pretty." She said women are really bad about being their own worst enemies and allow pettiness to get in the way of advancement. She said when she would go on casting calls as a dancer or actor she was always happy when the panel was men or mostly men. She said it it was female dominated you would not get the job if you were "too pretty" or "too buxom" or "too talented."

She said Clinton was more palatable to women simply because she had "saggy jowels and cankles."

This whole ideal borders on sexist but since it came from a woman I thought it was okay to discuss it. It does also have a strong bases in psychology and the instinctual behavior of females. Just as men are inclined to spread their seed as far as possible, women are inclined to compete with one another for that attention.

It will be interesting if the responses of the men on the board jive with the women.

 

[rantingredneck]

I don't know that there'll be overwhelming support. But in an N = 1 study of my own household, my wife was considering not voting this year. She's become very excited since Gov. Palin was announced as McCain's running mate.

 

[wingman]

I think women who are more educated working and proud of themselves will
vote for her but the "I'm a victim" crowd won't, just my opinion.

 

[Silver Bullet]

Maybe some Hillary supporters, but I doubt if most of Hillary supporters.

 

[huchahuchax]

I think you have an interesting point Playboy. Women are every bit as combative as men, and I'm sure there are some women out there that will vote against Palin purely out of spite.
I'm not a big McCain fan, and maybe I'm a bit naive, but I don't think Palin was brought in simply because she is a woman. If you look at the election as a battle of the bands, lets say the democrats are trying to present themselves as everything good and pure - lets represent them with the music of John Tesh. The republicans need an artist to represent themselves in the opposite light - bring in Joan Jett. It isn't so important that Joan Jett is a woman, but that her music is SO much better and she could easily kick John Tesh's ass!

 

[Shorts]

Part of the strategy was to pick up some women voters who were still on the fence, but it was understood not all women would flock to. A lot of women are bent out of shape with McCain, but those women wouldn't have voted for him anyway, even if he picked a man. And with that, would these same women vote for Palin if she were male? I think not. McCain wasn't getting their votes anyway.

As for women in general, the ones that somehow feel threatened by her, whether it is because she's a mom, political figure, sportswoman, capable, strong, successful, intelligent, attractive, good-lookin' supportive husband, seems to have it all..bla blah - they will not vote for her. Women are catty and will not vote for her out of spite and jealousy, even if it is generated from a shortcoming hangup of their own. If isn't Palin they take it out on in a Presidential race, it's going to be a coworker, customer service rep, extended family, etc. These women will have issues no matter who the woman is if she has qualities better than hers.


Lots of women can see all those above qualities and say "Wow, look at her go! I like her." Of course, they'll vote for her.

 

[LightningJoe]

Some will. Others won't. But the fact she's a woman will matter less than it would have with Hillary. Palin's not doing the identity politics thing that Hillary made such an explicit part of her bid for the office.


Also, the kind of woman who found Hillary so appealing (childless, androphobic, and bitter) will find little to like in Palin. She's much much more comfortable with her womanhood than Hillary's type is.


But there are probably a lot more women like Sarah Palin in America than there are women like Hillary Clinton. They probably would have voted for McCain anyway since they're far less likely to fall for a smoothie like Obama.

 

[gc70]

Will women support Palin? Some will and some won't, and for all sorts of reasons. The segment that Palin does have clinched are women who would vote for any woman rather than a man to make a political statement about the opportunities for women - the question is how big is that segment.

As to whether some women will vote against Palin because she is too pretty, it is probably true. But before the guys get too critical, remember whether you have heard other guys say they wouldn't vote for a male candidate because he was too handsome or a "pretty boy."

 

[Hkmp5sd]

My mom loves Palin and hates Hillary.

Palin was chosen because she is very conservative and it would bring McCain those voters who didn't like the fact he was so far to the left and had been sucking up to democrats for years.

To quote one bumber sticker I've already seen, "Palin makes it easier to vote for McCain".

 

[toybox99615]

such crap to post

all the women who were supporters of Hillary were, poor, uneducated etc. THat seems to be the trend of the postings regarding why Palin will get/not get women's votes. Imagine this some of us actually think women might vote on the political issues and not simply vote for a women candidate.


I'd image the same posters will want to know if men will vote for male candidates becasue it a way to secretly shown their homosexual preferences.

 

[Shorts]

But there are probably a lot more women like Sarah Palin in America than there are women like Hillary Clinton. They probably would have voted for McCain anyway since they're far less likely to fall for a smoothie like Obama.

Hit a good point right there. Others want to be around people like Palin because they are a joy to be around. She is a person with qualities I would want to be friends and I'd gravitate towards. When she was introed as VP and then after her speech, I couldn't help but think of how she reminds me of my best friends. I think it's a huge influence to lots of women out there that if Palin generates these familiarities, they're more likely to vote for her.


As for personalities - more people are influenced by these outgoing personalities vs those that aren't.

 

[Shorts]

RE women voting for women, men voting for men

I think in this regard, you will see gender differences here. But I think that goes back to the fundamentals of men being men and women being women. You can't completely change those biological differences in thinking, feeling, acting and all those basic elements that makes the genders differ.

 

[JWT]

My wife would probably not have voted for Hillary (or Obama for that matter) but was luke warm on McCain until Palin was selected as his running mate She is now quite excited about the Republican ticket.

I've heard similar comments from some of our friends.

 

[Playboypenguin]

Hit a good point right there. Others want to be around people like Palin because they are a joy to be around. She is a person with qualities I would want to be friends and I'd gravitate towards.

I kind of agree. I would love to spend a night having drinks (Pepsi for me) with Hilary but I would spend a weekend in the woods with Palin (and not for the same reason a lot of you pervs would want to ). I could relate on social issues with Hilary but probably most everything else with Palin.

 

[OnTheFly]

I've got a liberal Republican friend who is voting for Obama no matter what. I briefly spoke with her and she said that "none of the Hillary supporters I know will vote for Palin". My next door neighbor, an elderly lady, doesn't like Palin because she is pro-life regardless of circumstances. My wife was for Obama, then against Obama/for McCain, then when Palin stepped in she was against McCain, but now she is warming up to Palin. We will see which direction her opinion swings in the next 60 minutes.

Fly

 

[Sarge]

Lots of excitement about her addition to the ticket at work, from both genders.

 

[FireMax]

More than appealing to women only, Palin appeals to conservatives which is her real value to Mccain. Mccain, a non-conservative, was not doing well in the polls. No one was excited about him except for a few independent liberals. So, he went against his beliefs and began courting the religious right and later, he nominated Palin. Since then, everyone seems to agree that he has been resurrected. Of course, conservatives are the base of the republican party. Mccain should have never flirted with the idea that he could win without them. I have never thought that mccain was particularly bright. But, his choice of Palin was a good one, I give him that. I can't wait to see the new campaign signs....

Palin/McCain 2008....

 

[Silver Bullet]

Women are every bit as combative as men, and I'm sure there are some women out there that will vote against Palin purely out of spite.

Out of spite ? The ones who vote out of spite will be voting against Obama, IMHO.

 

[Shorts]

There is plenty of spitefulness to go around. Hmm, I wonder who might receive more spite-votes??? Will spite-votes be major players?

 

[madmag]

The answer is yes, with some exceptions. She will not get African American Womens vote.....just a fact. But it does appear that women in general are energized. It also appears that attacks on her as a mother have back-fired as predicted.

My wife was not going to vote, now she will probably open up the polls.