Palin got on short list because McCain had gender gap in polls?

[sabra]

Source: Politico

That is, for my money, the most astonishing acknoweldgement in "The Battle for America," the new '08 campaign book by Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, out this week. Not astonishing in the sense that I'm surprised at the motivation -- just that the McCain folks admit it.

Here is how Balz/Johnson present it, with an on-record quote from McCain manager Rick Davis:

McCain's search for a running mate had started in the spring with about two dozen names. Palin was not a serious candidate. One person said she wasn't even on the initial list; others said she was -- barely. It was only later in the summer, when the campaign team became alarmed at the size of Obama's lead among women, that she was added to the list of genuine contenders. "Toward the end of the process, in July, we started taking a look at, like okay, who are we missing? Let's take a sharper look at women candidates and try that one more time," Davis said. "That's when Palin came on." Palin, he added, "stood out significantly from the rest of that list."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0809/Palin_got_on_short_list_because_McCain_had_gender_gap_in_polls.html

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WP article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080202046_pf.html

[liberal N proud]

1. That and it was the kind of stunt only a "Maverick" would pull

Remember he was a Maverick?

[DJ13]

2. Palin, he added, "stood out significantly from the rest of that list."

Must have been one sorry assed list!

[ingac70]

3. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

There were plenty of women in the GOP with at least half a brain between their ears that McLame didn't have to pick SP.

They wanted someone who gave men a hard on, not someone who drew female voters.

[MaineDem]

7. I believe you're correct.

There are some "good" GOP women who would have added more to the ticket than Palin. You betcha.

[Yupster]

21. I thought the only women that could be on the ticket were

interestingly Palin or Linda Lingle. How about that. The governors of Alaska and Hawaii.

KB Hutchison didn't want it. Senators Collins and Snowe are pro-choice.

You think there's a big list, but there really wasn't when I started looking at it. I actually predicted Palin weeks before she was picked.

[XemaSab]

25. There's got to be some crusty old lady representatives that would have worked

Either that or a female captain of industry, former cabinet member, senior officer in the military, or something like those. :shrug:

[Yupster]

28. Like who?

I thought of Elizabeth Dole, but would you run against a young guy with the ticket McCain - Dole?

[XemaSab]

30. The biggest gun in McCain's belt was the "experience" gun

He shot his own ass all up by picking Palin.

[NYC Liberal]

12. They were also desperate to take back the news cycle

They announced her the day after Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC.

Problem is, they didn't vet her and it ended up being a disaster.

[Yupster]

20. I don't think KB Hutchison would have done it

She wants out of Washington.

Also, she hates campaigning and is a lousy debator.

She was the obvious choice to me, but I bet she either told them right up front she wasn't interested or McCain's team leared she wasn't interested.

[kiva]

4. That's pretty much how most VPs end up on tickets.

Kennedy really disliked LBJ, but needed the south. Eisenhower was more than ready to hang Nixon out to dry when charges at the first whiff of a scandal. Choosing a candidate for the lower part of the ticket is all about picking up support from the largest possible group - guess we should be excited that politicians are starting to worry about female voters. :D

[PA Democrat]

5. How did that work out for you, McCain? Oh yeah, 56% of women voted for Obama,

only 43% for McCain.

http://womensissues.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=womensissues&cdn=newsissues&tm=8&gps=385_293_869_567&f=00&tt=2&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.cawp.rutgers.edu/press_room/news/documents/PressRelease_11-05-08_womensvote.pdf

A lot of women were insulted to think that McCain assumed they would vote for someone as stupid and as divisive as Palin just because of gender.

[MARALE]

11. I talked with many women about this

I work with a lot of strong women and they were very put off by Palin and her unintelligibly. They were on the fence before but the Plain choice made them lean Obama's way. Many Repub ment were like, "hey isn't it great that Palin is on the ticket?" I said "Yep, it is great for Obama." They were flabbergasted that I did not like Palin, just because she was a woman like I am so I should like her. What wankers!

[Arkansas Granny]

15. I ran into that same attitude with my boss. He knew that I had supported Hillary

so he asked me after McCain's announcement "What do you think of Sarah Palin?". He was quite surprised when I gave him my opinion and told him there was no way I could support anyone who was so totally unsuited for the position of vice-president. I guess he thought I would vote for any woman since the one I supported was no longer in the race.

[Chemisse]

18. That's how little regard they have for women

One is as good as the next, they think.

[joeybee12]

6. That was always painfully obvious...did we need a book to tell us? n/t

[livetohike]

23. +1

[pattmarty]

8. After reading an excerpt from a new book about the McCain campaign.............

................That's the key. And, I can understand that. They wanted to capitalize on the "Hillary effect" when Obama won the nomination. But, Jesus Christ, it has a lot to say about the Republican "leader depth" at the time to pick a fucking hillbilly nitwit. Hell, I don't like Hutchinson (R-TX), or Dole (R-NC?) but either one of them at the very least has an IQ over 100. I and every Dem hopes she does not go away over the next 20 yrs. This could be one of those "gifts that keep on giving" like Herpes.

[L. Coyote]

9. NO. It was the McCain YouTube-Paris Hilton gap

And Paris was too young to run :rofl:

This is commonly known as "the Old, Wrinkly Guy gap" on the series of tubes.

Paris Hilton vs. John McCain, not even close!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/6/191421/9617/647/563790

[southernyankeebelle]

10. Funny she turned out to be a puppy instead of a pit bull

[Mopar151]

13. That's right

Pits are intensely loyal, and never quit! Queen Wa-Silla is more like a nasty Siamese cat - spoiled, fickle, and mean.

[LeftishBrit]

27. That's unfair to Siamese cats!

Most of them are very intelligent, for one thing.

I would compare her more to a peacock, except that the peahen isn't the gaudy one.

[hamsterjill]

14. He thought Palin had what he needed for both sexes

McCain foolishly thought that women would vote for Palin. They didn't. Most women saw right through her immediately for what she really was. As much as she flirted, she could not cover up the fact that she was ignorant on many issues.

McCain also thought her good looks would appeal to the "good ole boy Republican base", too. I guess the jury is still out on that strategy!!!

[damntexdem]

16. More likely because McCain had a thinking gap between ears.

And his thinking seems to have kept going downhill from there: no on Sotomayor, leading opposition to cash-for-clunkers. He seems to want to fail.

[Juche]

17. It works with Steele and the black vote

Why wouldn't black people vote GOP now that Steele is head of the RNC? You have to admire the level condescension and window dressing over substance that goes into these ideas.

I hope that to appeal to young voters the GOP picks a dangerously unqualified young person to have some other position of authority in the republican party.

[MellowDem]

19. And Hillary too...

If not for the close primary with Hillary, I don't know that he would have stooped so low as to pick Palin. I mean, if that was the best woman condidate then the Republicans were already in trouble. But I think McCain falsely believed all the PUMAs and thought that Hillary's supporters would dive the ticket for simply having a woman, a stupid, insipid, ghastly woman, on his ticket.

[No Elephants]

22. The Republican base is not sufficient to elect a President, so they tried to pick up the PUMAs. I

know they got some, males and females. Still wasn't enough to win, though. Serious independents could not bring themselves to put Palin a 72 year old heartbeat away from the Presidency.

[sofa king]

24. Was, um.... Was she the only woman on the list?

Because I would be very interested to see the list of female candidates who were considered less qualified than Sarah Palin. Their careers can be effectively ended simply by mentioning it.

Davis' quote above, "stood out significantly from the rest of that list," might be glittering marketing speak, or it might be the best way to say that McCain's people didn't consider any other female candidates.

[XemaSab]

26. I bet "stood out significantly"

means "she's a fundie and from a very conservative area and nobody else on the list is" as much as it was "she's a woman."

I read a pretty good discussion of the choices from the WaPo, and Lieberman, Romney, Pawlenty, Crist, and Bloomberg were some of the other considerations. So you've got three non-Christians, and four people who were liberal enough to get elected in heavily democratic areas. Crist would be the only Christian who is also representing a somewhat conservative state.

I bet McCain KNEW he had to excite the base, and that's where Palin came from.

[unkachuck]

29. "...because McCain had gender gap in polls?"

....nah, gramps had a gender gap between his legs....caribou-barbie brought much needed humpability to that ticket....

....I know, gramps thought he'd get lucky, prick his weaser or maybe do some serious knob-wobbling on the side....