Women Troubles

by Brian Reich | 4 Sep 2008, 7:00am

Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska and newly minted nominee for Vice President on the Republican side, rocked the house at the GOP Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul last night.  She ripped into Senator Obama for being inexperienced and naive, took on the ‘elite’ (read: liberal) media for dismissing her candidacy, and she gave her Conservative base all the red meat they could handle on issues like energy (oil), security (terrorists), and family values.

A star was born.

Depending on who you ask, John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate for any number of reasons: 1) she has real executive experience (a contrast the GOP is making to Senator Obama in particular), 2) she is from outside the Beltway (way outside, you don’t get much further away from Washington, DC than Alaska), 3) she is an unapologetic conservative (pro-life, pro-creationism, pro-gun - which allows John McCain to talk and act more like a moderate), and 4) she’s a woman.

Let’s consider this last point: By picking a woman, McCain is able to signal he is a true maverick - she is, after all, the first woman on the GOP ticket. By picking a woman, he is able to make his candidacy for President equally historic in many ways to that of Senator Obama’s candidacy (ok, objectively, its not as historic, but its in the same ballpark).  And, by picking a woman, Senator McCain has put women voters - particularly those who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary and remain skeptical about an Obama candidacy - back into play for the GOP.

Hence, what I call the ‘woman problem.”  Women aren’t simply going to vote for John McCain because he put a woman on the ticket.  And the same is true on the other side - women aren’t going to vote for Barack Obama solely because Hillary Clinton threw her overwhelming support behind him.  The polls and papers are showing that.

The lesson learned from the historic candidacy of Hillary Clinton and the 18 million votes she earned during the Democratic Primary is that gender is not the primary factor in deciding who to vote for.  Women voters (and men too for that matter) care deeply about the issues and they expect the candidates they support to address those issues if the want to earn their vote.  There are numerous issues to be addressed: Healthcare, education, pay equity, the strength of the economy and jobs, and for some cultural issues like choice and funding of the arts.  Simply addressing the issues isn’t enough, the candidates must offer substantive proposals that meet the expectations of the voters to resonate.

Therein lies the challenge for Sarah Palin and the Republicans.  Can Governor Palin help John McCain address the issues that are important to women voters in this election, because of her knowledge, experience, and unique perspective as a woman (and not simply by representing her gender)?  Can she do what Barack Obama and Joe Biden have not yet proven capable of doing –  demonstrate to women (and men) who supported Hillary Clinton during the Primary that they understand the need for universal healthcare, share their commitment to early childhood education, and have both an undertanding and a plan to address other key policies that Senator Clinton championed so effectively during her campaign?

When we look back on this election, women voters will almost certainly be one of the audiences that tips the balance in the direction of either Senator McCain or Senator Obama.  Which way they tip will depend on whether Sarah Palin, and the other candidates, get over their women troubles and decide to dig deep into the issues.

TAGS : arts Barack Obama Convention education healthcare Hillary Clinton Joe Biden John McCain pay equity Republican Sarah Palin Women