Experts: Palin chosen for women's votes
— -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain's surprise pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is an attempt to court women still angry after the most promising female presidential candidate in history lost a bruising Democratic primary, strategists in both parties agree.
The debate is over whether it will work.
By making Palin just the second woman to win a spot on a major party's presidential ticket, McCain has "clearly served notice that this campaign is going to wage a strong effort for women voters," Ann Lewis, a senior adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, told USA TODAY. Clinton lost the Democratic nomination battle to Barack Obama and is now urging her supporters to back the Democratic standard-bearer.
The historic nature of Palin's selection put Democrats in a bind, one that was vividly illustrated by the two contrasting statements the Obama campaign put out after McCain introduced his running mate to a boisterous rally in Dayton, Ohio.
One, issued in the name of the Democratic presidential candidate and his running mate, Joe Biden, was congratulatory, calling Palin's selection "another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in politics."
A separate statement from Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton offered a harsh critique of Palin's credentials, saying McCain "put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency."
Clinton herself lauded the choice while maintaining her ideological criticism of the McCain campaign.
"We should all be proud of Gov. Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain," Clinton said in a statement. "While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Gov. Palin will add an important new voice to the debate."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, brushed off the criticism of Palin, whom she said has "risen to every challenge." Murkowski's praise is significant because she's the daughter of former Alaska governor Frank Murkowski, whom Palin defeated in the 2006 primary. "She's a tough Alaska woman," Murkowski said of Palin.
Nick Ayers, executive director of the National Republican Governors Association, offered vivid evidence. Ayers said that Palin keynoted a Republican governors conference on energy in Dallas earlier this year while eight months pregnant, then left early because she went into labor with the youngest of her five children, Trig.
Even so, one leading Republican female political leader, former New Jersey governor Christie Todd Whitman, cautioned that Republicans shouldn't assume they'll capture women simply by putting Palin on the ticket. "They'll want to know that she's capable of assuming the office of the presidency," she said of Palin. "I'm sure Sen. McCain has thought long and hard about that."
Democratic female leaders moved quickly to make the case that Palin, though a woman, does not advance women's issues. Like many of them, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., raised Palin's opposition to abortion rights. "Why, with so many other qualified women and men in his party, did John McCain choose Sarah Palin?" she said.
Ellen Malcolm of Emily's List, a political action committee that promotes Democratic female candidates, said women should oppose the Republican ticket because both McCain and Palin favor overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide. "They both want to continue the failed economic policies of the Bush administration, and they both offer more of the same that has led this country down the wrong path," Malcolm said.
Republicans argued that Palin represents a maverick in McCain's mold and will help amplify the Republican candidate's anti-establishment message.
"John McCain has made clear from the start that he wants to change Washington — and he proved it today by going as far away from Washington as possible in selecting his running mate," said Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2-ranking House Republican leader.
"She's obviously a reformer," said former House majority leader Dick Armey. If Obama, a first-term senator, tries to question Palin's credentials, "he will get a big backfire," Armey predicted.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush called Palin Friday. "He said that the McCain-Palin ticket is very strong. He wished her good luck, told her that she will be a fantastic vice presidential candidate, and that he is looking forward to a great victory in November," Perino told reporters.
McCain supporters said that Palin balanced the ticket not only in terms of gender but also in age, experience and demographics.
While McCain has spent 26 years in Congress, Palin's experience as a mayor and governor has been in the executive branch. While McCain turned 72 Friday, Palin, at 44, is three years younger than Obama. While McCain is wealthy thanks to the fortune his wife, Cindy, inherited from her father, Palin and her husband come from blue-collar backgrounds and are union members. "She's not someone who has millions and millions of dollars," said Ayers.
"This is a tough, smart person who can relate to the average Joe," said John Kasich, a Republican commentator and former congressman from the battleground state of Ohio. "She is going to energize the Republican Party at that convention," Kasich predicted. "She's new, she's fresh. They're going to like her, and they're going to believe her."
Palin has been involved for years with groups such as Feminists for Life and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which will help attract evangelical supporters, according to Michael Lindsey, a Rice University sociologist who has written about evangelical leaders.
Palin is "almost a perfect hybrid" because she can help energize the GOP's conservative base as well as attract blue-collar Democrats and conservative women who supported Clinton in their party's primary, said Republican strategist Greg Mueller. "I think she's more representative of the future of the Republican Party," he said.
Contributing: Cathy Lynn Grossman