The Women in McCain's Life

In 10 days Sarah Palin's standing has crashed an awesome 24 points, with a clear majority now having a negative opinion of the Alaska Governor. This kind of free fall is more reminiscent of, say, Tom Cruise's cratering popularity after jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch and yelling at Brooke Shields; or perhaps Michael Jackson's after his child molestation trial. It certainly is not what you would look for in a vice-presidential running mate, someone steady, reliable and whom voters are, at worst, completely indifferent to (perhaps Joe Biden.)

This is what happens when you pick a "fresh face" who becomes instantly best known for being an even bigger liar than the head of the ticket. It may be that her inexperience, inarticulateness and defensiveness are not deal-breakers for a people who voted for George W. Bush twice. But the out-and-out lying and the whiff of corruption that accompanies it, that is probably too much.

Palin was supposed to save the Republican ticket in two principal ways: rallying the Christian right, and drawing disgruntled Democratic and unaffiliated women towards the GOP. It may be that she succeeded in the former goal, although it is a measure of John McCain's desperation that just a few weeks before the general election he is still trying to rally the right-wing core of his party in places like Indiana and North Carolina.

As far as making the ticket more attractive to women, the Palin pick has had the reverse effect, boldly underlining McCain's patronizing attitudes. By now, 75% of voters view the pick as "political," seeing right through the GOP's sad ploy to try to ride Hillary Clinton's coattails; only 17% say she was chosen because she is "qualified." This matters enormously because the corollary to such a political move is that a more qualified choice could have been made. Now, assuming it had to be a woman, clearly the pickings are slim in a party whose congressional delegation is made up of over 90% of middle-aged and older white men. There are only eight women who are GOP senators or governors, but seven of them are better qualified than Palin, the governor of Alaska. Unfortunately for McCain, all of these women are pro-choice with the exception of Palin and Elizabeth Dole, who is even older than McCain. And by McCain's calculation, it was better to pick an utterly unqualified anti-choice running mate than a qualified pro-choice one. Country first, right?

In general, the women in McCain's political life are few and far between, and after this week even fewer. Carly Fiorina, who nearly ran Hewlett-Packard into the ground, has been banished from her job as chief economic advisor to McCain after confirming what we all know: neither he nor Palin are remotely qualified to run the US government. Meg Whitman, a successful entrepreneur, has all but disappeared from the McCain campaign, perhaps stunned that her first choice for president, Mitt Romney, wasn't picked as the GOP running mate.

There are so few Republican women, even fewer willing to come to McCain's rescue, and yet fewer with any kind of credibility that the campaign recently had to resort to Jane Swift, a former unelected governor of Massachusetts, to spearhead the "attacking Palin is sexist" strategy that has backfired so badly. Besides being the first Governor to give birth in office, Swift is best known for being forced out of the GOP gubernatorial primary by Romney and because "when the demands of [child-rearing and governing...] both increase substantially, something has to give." So much for the successful juggle.

McCain's newest supporter among women is Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, whose claim to fame outside of Bergdorf-Goodman is that she is a former Clintonista who now supports the Republican candidate because, she says, he is for "the rednecks" and Obama is not. McCain sure knows how to pick 'em. We probably won't be hearing much from Lady de Rothschild anymore.

This leaves us with Cindy and Meghan McCain, a thin-skinned, entitled, rich mother-daughter team that hardly pays homage to working women anywhere. It is a measure of McCain's wife's sheltered existence that she believes her recent appearance on The View (!) was like getting "her bones picked clean." You would think this would pale in comparison to being publicly called a "c***" and a "trollop" by her husband, but maybe she is more used to the latter. As for her daughter, she is keeping busy pulling strings for Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt (you won't know who they are unless you read Star magazine) to visit Iraq; she knows this is critically important because, in her own words, "no one knows what war is like other than my family. Period."

What exactly McCain and Palin think they can do for American women remains a mystery. Clearly not all women are pro-choice, and not all pro-choice women vote singularly on the issue (one recent survey listed ten other issues that women found more important than abortion.) Nonetheless, a ticket that is the most anti-choice in recent memory is not a good start, even symbolically, considering over half of women voters believe abortion should be legal. How extreme is the ticket on this issue? Palin would have a young girl who has been raped pay for the rape kit and force her by law to keep the child. On issues on which there is the biggest gender gap (those which are disproportionately more important to women than to men), the McCain/Palin positions are dismal. The GOP's environment platform is best summarized by the frighteningly stupid (even for Republicans) "drill baby drill" mantra that now rises every time energy is mentioned, especially by Palin, who has not met an oil patch she doesn't love. Next is health care, to which McCain wants to apply the same principles that have guided his approach to banking and financial markets: now that is something to really look forward to considering how successful that's been. On the fuzzy concept of "moral issues," the McCain/Palin campaign of the past couple of weeks has clearly shown this is not a sure winner for them either, since the blunt lying can hardly be ranked up there as a moral value. Of course, the main issue for most voters currently is the economy. In this case, a majority of men and women are now in agreement that McCain can do nothing for them, since he believes that the economy is fundamentally strong, which is exactly what it is not.

It has taken a couple of weeks for it to sink in, but the Palin launch has failed miserably: she has gone from being unknown to being known for her incompetence, her lack of experience, and her dishonesty. The opportunity to define her as the corruption-fighting warrior-mom that she is not has evaporated forever, or at least for the few weeks that remain until the election. From being McCain's savior, she has become his downfall, crushing any remaining crumbs of reputation McCain may have had for good, objective, non-partisan judgment.

Follow Paul Jenkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulcJenkins

Comments

[sunnydaz]

Oh no, please tell me this isn't true about smacking Cindy around with the verbal abuse. News flash to Sen McCain and camp: 51% of all US households are now headed by women; we pay the bills, feed the kids, we know how much health insurance costs-- and how much your plans for all of the above really suck. We are not a nation of women dependant upon the men folk to make our decisions for us. The only "Women for McCain" bumper stickers I've seen are in highly affluent areas. We are not the country club set. We are less than impressed by the women you have surrounded yourselves with (Carly, Palin, Rothschild) Good lord-- you do realize that US women do not bind their feet and walk behind men, right?

[arthur2008]

It would be interesting to hear Carly Fiorina speak out on the current and future crisis -- like so many of McCain's top advisors she knows a great deal about running an enterprise intot he ground, costing tens of thousands their livelihoods, and enriching herself on the way out the door. Not surprisingly, that is the only startegy he can now offer for the Wall Street bailout at taxpayer expense -- take from the many to give to the few.

[Mycall]

Its telling that in a few short weeks someone (Palin) could be seen as a bigger liar than McCain. I mean he's got a 26yr history in the Senate, the Keating Five scandal, admitted to being a womanizer, being for Bush before he was against him etc. etc.. And then Palin arrives and in a few short weeks her moral compass is seen as the greatest detriment to the Republican's success. I mean you really have to hand it to her. That's not an easy task...

[hippynanainblingland]

Just want to clarify something: Palin doesn't claim that women should be forced to "keep the child"... only that they should be forced to bear the child. Twice I've seen this claimed. Let's be crystal clear about this. I wouldn't be surprised if the McCain/Palin show picked up on this inaccuracy and exploit it for all it's worth!

Obama/Biden 08

[raiffer]

In a 2006 interview and then a subsequent quiestionaire, Palin indicated that teenage mother's should keep the child as the best case scenario. In-other-words, her position is to keep the child as the best alternative. She is rather dismissive in the interview of people who put the children up for adoption. So, she wants it both ways and can't come to a single position. Go figure.
I don't see that the McCain/Palin camp will jump on this statement. They don't have much room to wiggle on abortion issues and maintain their base. One "small" comment is not relevant to the 2008 campaign.
I guess I don't want people to see "wolves" behind every small misinterpretation, especially one not written or presented by the Obama/Biden campaign. Let Palin rail at Jenkins for the comment. The Obama camp can simply say, "What are you talking about now?"

[08politicaljunkie]

If life begins at conception, bearing the child means keeping the child. They're not terminating a pregnancy.

Palin is against the "Day After" pill, emergency contraception, in the case of rapes. This means, these violent-assault victims, if impregnated, are forced to carry a pregnancy to term; they are forced to keep the child.

After it is born, they can make it available for adoption.

[raiffer]

Thank you. Finally, someone has dared to take a swing at Palin because she is a woman. This is not a sexist article but an honest expose' of the wrong candidate at the wrong time. It just so happens that she's a woman playing at being governor by surrounding herself with childhood friends and cronies; banishing her detractors; lying almost with impunity; understanding, obviously, only what governing is not about.
McCain has shown himself something of a fool. Jenkins didn't call him that outright, but he did dance all around the title.
The women in McCain's life are a strange breed, fiercely loyal while seemingly vacuous and, like a harpy, vocal and shrill.
Good work, Jenkins.

[trinidadgirl]

It appears that he is a 'good ole boys chauvinistic macho man' who probably does not even respect women much.

[anon004]

"no one knows what war is like other than my family. Period.

Wow, I bet that's news to everyone who either lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan, had a loved one injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, or has someone serving in either country now. Hey, if Dad can't tell a Sunni from a Shia, thinks Iran is training members of Al Quaeda, doesn't know that Iran and Pakistan don't share a border, thinks Spain is in Latin America, and believes his VP pick has valid foreign policy ewperience because you can see Russia from the state she "governs," what can you say but, the apple does fall far from the tree?

[LameDuckHunting]

Yeah......­..........­......youn­g Ms. McCain's comment rankled me as well. Tell me again, who is it that's elitist and out of touch?

[DixieMelody]

"No one knows what war is like other than my family. Period."

That statement brings to my mind Jenna Bush with her face up against the limousine window sticking her tongue out at us, caught on video for the world to see.

[Miravanguild]

What ya expect? The truth shall set you free...

[shel3364]

..and I thought he just had a thing for beauty queens.

[DixieMelody]

McCain has said recently (on The View) "Meghan is the light of my life." Which certainly puts the rest of his children (and Cindy) in their places. He is just rude and thoughtless, even to his own family members.

[vulvina]

especially to family members, particularly Bridget.

[martymartymarty]

I am convinced at this point that Palin was brought in as a means to distract the discussion from the issues and as a means of curtaining the devolvement of McCain's abilities. She fired up "the base", thronged with people who do not listen to reason or consider actual evidence, and has such questionability on so many levels that the campaign can keep feeding the headlines crew ad nauseam. She has a disposability that will allow her to confuse the public about this campaign and then they will have her simply disappear back into the Alaskan "wild" to never be heard (on a national level) from again.

[slg]

It's likely the same with McCain. He's had the look of a straw man from the beginning of this Rovian campaign.