Could Clinton have Palin-proofed Dems?

[boobiemiles]

I thought Obama should have choosen her. It was her time this year. She found her voice and the woman was shrp. You have to make shrewd moves, and I felt Obama whiffed on this one. Who the hell is Joe Bidden,a nd why should I care? So what he's a friend of Pennsylvania. I know Bill Clinton is a horny dog, and has more baggage that SouthWest Airlines, but Hillary was on point. Obama should have picked her. Just my opnion.

Could Clinton have Palin-proofed Dems? Glenn Thrush, Martin Kady II

Wed Sep 10, 5:32 AM ET

Republican Rep. Candice S. Miller says Barack Obama had only one shot at Palin-proofing the Democratic ticket — and he missed it when he passed over Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate.

“Every woman in America knows what Barack Obama did to Hillary Clinton: He looked at her and thought, ‘There’s no way I’m doing that,’” said Miller. “If Hillary was on the ticket, he’d be in a much better position to win women voters.”

Sarah Palin’s presence — coupled with Clinton’s absence — may be altering one of the great verities of American politics: that women voters overwhelmingly favor Democrats.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released this week showed white women swinging hard against the Democratic ticket. Obama left Denver with an 8-point lead among white women; by the time John McCain pulled out of St. Paul, Minn., with Palin at his side, he had taken a 12-point lead.

Former Clinton strategist and pollster Mark Penn on Tuesday said that it’s too soon to know where women will wind up in November, and he declined to engage in any “woulda, coulda, shoulda” speculation about how things might be different if Clinton were on the Democratic ticket.

But another former Clinton adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the “Obama people have got to be kicking themselves” for not putting choosing Clinton as his No. 2.

Julia Piscitelli of the American University’s Women and Politics Institute agreed.

“I don’t think Palin would be seeing these kind of gains if Hillary was on the ticket,” she said. “When Obama picked Biden, it gave Republicans an opening, and they are taking full advantage of it. ... The question is: How long will it last?”

The answer, some Democrats say, is not long.

“I don’t think this is a real swing [in the polls] until it’s been a week, said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), one of Obama’s busiest female surrogates. “We’ll need to see whether Sarah Palin is willing to answer questions. ... No one will be a stronger advocate for Barack Obama and Joe Biden than Hillary Clinton.”

Sen. Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Ark.) also sounded the Palin-will-wilt-in-the-spotlight theme.

“Sarah Palin delivered a great speech, but we haven’t heard anything else about what she’s going to do,” Lincoln said. “American women are smart, they’re bright and this election isn’t just about Sarah Palin. This is about what they want to do for the country.”

The Obama campaign has denied that it has a serious problem with female voters.

On Monday, campaign manager David Plouffe told a Washington Post reporter, “Your poll is wrong,” adding, “We certainly are not seeing any movement like that. Polls, time to time, particularly on the demographic stuff, can have some pretty wild swings.”

That view won support from two unlikely sources Tuesday: Penn and a Republican senator who backs the McCain-Palin ticket.

Penn said that women are going to be “the absolute swing vote in this campaign, and it’s not clear which direction they are going to go in.

“I don’t think it’s a Hillary backlash we’re seeing,” he added. “With Palin on the ticket, we’re going to be seeing this thing swing back and forth.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has had a strained relationship with her state’s governor, downplayed Palin’s power. “I find it difficult to believe that many of the Hillary supporters are going to come over just because of Sarah Palin,” Murkowski said. “It should be about strength of positions” and policy.

But Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is locked in a tough race of her own, says several women — former Clinton supporters — have come up to her in Maine to say Palin gives them a reason to back McCain.

“I have never seen such excitement in the Republican Party as we’re seeing in response to Sarah Palin,” Collins said. “I’ve had a lot of Democrats and independent women in Maine who say they’re happy to see a woman on the ticket. Many of them saw an Obama-Clinton ticket as unbeatable. ... That is significant and remarkable.”

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute Assistant Director Peter A. Brown said the Obama campaign is fooling itself if it discounts the importance of the problem. “This isn’t about Hillary; it’s about Obama’s problem with white women voters,” he said. “Hillary won about 10 million votes from women voters in the Democratic primaries — there are 52 million women voting in the general election.”

Clinton has said she’ll hit the road for Obama, but her team says she refuses to be an anti-Palin “attack dog.” Further complicating matters for Obama, Hillaryland fundraiser Susie Tompkins Buell is leading a group that will fight media sexism against the Alaska governor.

[jrockster21]

“If Hillary was on the ticket, he’d be in a much better position to win women voters.”

False. Every female democrat I know is still voting for Obama, and isn't fooled for a second by the gimmick Palin pick.

[DRSmith]

Nah if the dems really wanted to win this election they would have had Hil at the top of the ticket with Obama as VP

It would have given them the election hands down, not they are fighting from behind

And women do see the the ignoring of Hil for the VP as a slight to her as a strong candidate

[twa]

I do not think she effects Dem women voters that much(maybe 10%) she does bring in independent and solidify the base.

Meanwhile Obama rejecting Hillary alienated many...not just females.

Some of you overlook the influence the Clinton machine has,plus I doubt McCain would have chosen Palin to run against that ticket.

Lieberman would likely have been his partner in defeat.

[Mooka]

I don't think Hillary wanted to be a VP.

[scruffylookin]

Yes and no.

If Obama had chosen Hillary, I don't think McCain would have been looking at Palin in the least.

However, Palin's popularity with the Republicans right now has little to do with her gender and alot to do with her politics. I think if Hillary were the VP, McCain still would have gone with a hard right retro conservative type as his VP. It just likely would not have been Palin but someone else.

[PeterMP]

Well, I don't really think picking Hillary would have been a good idea. I do thinking Biden was a bad idea. I would have gone with somebody like Richardson.

[Kilmer17]

False. Every female democrat I know is still voting for Obama, and isn't fooled for a second by the gimmick Palin pick.

Well then that proves it!:doh:

[Oldskool]

I don't think Hillary wanted to be a VP.

Co-regent of the Empire with a trap door insalled under Obama's desk in his office.

[Kilmer17]

This is a stupid thought.

YES, Clinton would have "Palin-proofed" him. But it would have hurt him in so many other ways it wouldnt have mattered.

Biden was a good choice. I think their were better choices for his election chances (as well as obviously for actually being VP) such as Richardson, Kaine etc. But Biden was better than Hillary.

[PleaseBlitz]

False. Every female democrat I know is still voting for Obama, and isn't fooled for a second by the gimmick Palin pick.

Palin isnt bringing in democrat women, she's bringing in independent women.

[DjTj]

Sebelius or McCaskill or Napolitano would have been better. Hillary wouldn't have brought in the independent women voters because every woman in American has already made up their mind on whether or not they like Hillary. Independent women are gravitating towards Palin because they didn't know anything about her before and she seems new and exciting and revolutionary ... Sebelius or McCaskill or Napolitano could have done the same for Obama.

[TimmySmith]

McCain does not pick Palin if Obama picks Hillary. Obama picked Biden as a reactionary measure to the Republican's biggest line of attack. McCain saw the opportunity to pick up some of the women's vote and took a gamble. I am not sure McCain counted on the gamble as also unifying the far right, which he needed badly. Palin has won McCain more votes than Bidan won Obama, the polls show that.

[Smoot Point Really]

Clinton could have "Obama-proofed" the ticket... He and Biden are the ones killing the ticket.

[#98QBKiller]

Co-regent of the Empire with a trap door insalled under Obama's desk in his office.

You mean the Oval Office right?

[youngestson]

No way Hillary Clinton could have had the same effect. She and her record (or some version of it) are well known to anyone who has a pulse.

Gov. Palin is an as-of-yet unknown, and the shielding she has recieved and will continue to recieve till the election will alow her to be more of a personality then a political thinker.

As refrenced in the Peter Sellers film Being There, "a man (in this case person's) past is like a swamp. It's in the background waiting to swallow them down."

Right now Palin has little if any past for the average voter to get a grip on. Hillary has nothing but.

Not even close.

[DCSaints_fan]

This is a stupid thought.

YES, Clinton would have "Palin-proofed" him. But it would have hurt him in so many other ways it wouldnt have mattered.

Biden was a good choice. I think their were better choices for his election chances (as well as obviously for actually being VP) such as Richardson, Kaine etc. But Biden was better than Hillary.

You're right about Clinton hurting him in other ways. If she was willing ot accept VP then Clinton screwed herself by running a very negative campaign against Obama claiming he wasn't "qualified". Thats just way too much ammo for McCain to use in ads. Although Biden did say something similiar, it was very early in the primary and nobody really remembers it. Plus the Hillary Haters would have shown up in droves.

I think the best thing the Obama campaign can do to assuage the Hillary sychophants is somehow let it leak that he woud appoint her Secretary of State if elected, which is a more important position than VP anyway.

McCain does not pick Palin if Obama picks Hillary. Obama picked Biden as a reactionary measure to the Republican's biggest line of attack. McCain saw the opportunity to pick up some of the women's vote and took a gamble. I am not sure McCain counted on the gamble as also unifying the far right, which he needed badly. Palin has won McCain more votes than Bidan won Obama, the polls show that.

Yes, Obama was in the more difficult position of having to pick his running mate first, allowing McCain to "counter" his choice. I think Palin was excellent choice from the perspective of maximizing McCain's chances of getting elected.

[Corcaigh]

Clinton would have been as poor choice as she is a divisive figure to many, including many Democrats.

The Republicans called her "the *****", making their feigned outrage at mistreatment of Palin even more laughable.

[Henry]

This is a stupid thought.

YES, Clinton would have "Palin-proofed" him. But it would have hurt him in so many other ways it wouldnt have mattered.

Biden was a good choice. I think their were better choices for his election chances (as well as obviously for actually being VP) such as Richardson, Kaine etc. But Biden was better than Hillary.

Agreed. Agreed. And agreed.

Hillary couldn't be on that ticket. The Clintons are either in charge or they aren't. Obama at the top of the ticket means the latter.