The New York Times reports that the Obama campaign has asked Hillary Clinton to speak to her disgruntled loyalist female voters who may be inclined to support Sarah Palin’s ticket. Hillary will be campaigning for Obama in Florida soon, as she had agreed to do before Palin was put on the GOP ticket. But her aides have informed the Obama campaign that they shouldn’t count on her, because she has “a busy fall.” The O campaign will also be turning to a bunch of Midwestern female governors, like the riveting Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and the charismatic Janet Napolitano of Arizona, to woo back offended Hillary voters. Good luck with that.
Let’s just stipulate that those hard-core female liberal ideologues, as well as the abortion voters, will stay with the Democratic ticket, come what may. As they tell us, they vote issues, not gender.
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To Hillary I say: Don’t go there. You owe Obama nothing. He elbowed you out of the way. You could have won the election and he probably cannot. He needs you, and you don’t need him. Those boots were made for walkin’. . .
Also, Hill: as a woman who may later want the votes of women, it isn’t smart to use your sex to attack another woman. Those non-ideological, “I just vote for the candidate I like better” female swing voters won’t like it. And there are more of them than there are ideologically consistent feminists. Just let Sarah Palin stand as a rebuke to Obama for beating you — but not being tough enough to put you on the ticket
And what a rebuke Mrs. Palin is. PUMA websites indicate that many Democratic women are taking a new look at the GOP ticket: first, because Republicans nominated a talented, likeable woman. Second, because one after another luminary of the Right is out there defending her, her qualifications, and her skills — unstintingly. John McCain beams with pride when introducing her. That is a sight that even devoted conservative women, (me!) never expected to see. The undecided women voters are impressed by real party unity in support of a woman. Democratic men seem to feel women with children can’t handle a tough job.
But — was Palin really put on the ticket as a babe magnet? That’s only the cover. The real mission is class, not sex. The Obama campaign may have missed the true nature of the threat. Sarah Palin — like Joe Biden — was chosen in large part because she could appeal to working-class voters, who by rights should be voting for the Democrats’ politics of the trough in this economic downturn. Did you hear how much applause Palin got the other night when she mentioned that her husband was a member of the Steelworkers Union? The GOP wants its Reagan Democrats back!
Even the subtle difference between the newly hot “hockey moms,” and the “soccer moms” of yore has to do with class. Soccer is played in the leafier suburbs, and the moms drive Lexus SUVs. Hockey is grittier (and field hockey doesn’t count).
