Who is Sarah Palin Part 1: The Woman Candidate Against Women

In a blatant bid for Hillary Clinton voters, Palin entered the Presidential race as John McCain's running mate with the promise of placing a woman in the second highest public office. Palin has been portrayed as a feminine white knight, the woman who will take up the banner of Hillary Clinton and break through that ultimate glass ceiling. But, in truth, a John McCain desperate to regain maverick status has done little more than nominate a right-wing, religious fundamentalist beauty queen. Already, extreme conservatives across the blogosphere, likely egged on by the likes of Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, are labeling anyone who doesn't support Sarah Palin as 'sexist.' With each passing day, and with each amplification of the rhetoric, it becomes increasingly clear that this new Republican strategy is meant, primarily, to drive a wedge between democrats and a traditional support base -- female voters.

Unfortunately for Republican propagandists, women, in general, aren't likely to vote for any woman at any cost. Can you imagine many women voting for the likes of Anne Coulter? Simply put, to many women, the cost of electing Sarah Palin may well be too high. Already, CNN polls show Sarah Palin's nomination providing Barack Obama with a boost from likely women voters -- 53 percent now compared to 50 percent previously. According to CNN pollster Keating Holland, "If McCain was hoping to boost his share of the women's vote, it didn't work." In short, the nomination of Sarah Palin hurt McCain more than it helped him.

It would seem that women voters are far more savvy than Republican strategists give them credit for and are not so likely to fall prey to ham-fisted attempts to plunder their political support. But taking a closer look at Sarah Palin's political character might also provide some clues for her general lack of female voter support.