Sarah Palin resonates with ‘maxed-out moms’
Published 5:49 pm Monday, September 22, 2008
By Staff
They were "soccer moms" in 1996 who helped re-elect Bill Clinton to his second term.
After 9/11, these shaken-up "security moms" helped give George W. Bush four more years in the White House.
In 2008, these women are older and even more anxious because of their proximity to the front lines of the economy.
The campaigns refer to them as "Wal-Mart moms" or "maxed-out moms."
They're white, high-school educated and now past 50.
Women are generally more inclined to support a Democrat for president this year than a Republican, but they also relate to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's complex life as a hockey mom with five kids and an NRA card, even if her conservative views eventually turn them off.
Democratic strategists certainly count on her novelty wearing off now that she's getting some negative press from "Troopergate," an investigation she once welcomed.
Seventy percent of women in one poll disagreed with Palin's suggestion that humans are not responsible for global warming. Two thirds took exception to her opposition to abortion in all circumstances except when the life of the mother is threatened. Most do not share her support for the Iraq war.
Yet 32 percent of women say in a Time poll Palin made them more likely to vote for Sen. John McCain.
He closed a 10-point gap with Sen. Barack Obama among female voters since his surprise Palin pick.
Sixty-eight percent of them had a favorable opinion of her.
In fact, McCain held an 18-point edge in mid-September among these older, less-educated likely white female voters because although they'd like to vote for a Democrat, they're not sold Obama's the one.
His change message doesn't necessarily resonate with a demographic trying to cope with changes wrought by the economy, from college costs and gas and grocery prices to clinging to health care and affording prescription drugs.
You might find her washing clothes at midnight because it's the first chance she's had all day.
They're older than the Democratic candidate and perhaps more likely to question his experience. They're more culturally conservative than him. Race might matter more.
As an Iowa hair stylist said of Obama, "I know we need change, and maybe he can really do it and make a difference like Martin Luther King. But I'm just torn … He almost seems too good to be true."
The New York Times reported that "Oprah" is attracting more political advertising than any other non-news show – and McCain made more of those buys in the last month than Obama, endorsed by the show's star.
Obama calmly keeps his cool while his party freaks out, knowing anger would be interpreted as militancy, not populism.
Obama's confidence springs from faith in the American people to see that McCain was on TV bragging that he voted with President Bush, the least popular chief executive in modern history, 90 percent of the time and would need to reinvent his record for the past eight years.
Even with the economy tumbling, McCain insisted it's fundamentally strong. He consistently voted against financial regulation. He strongly supported sticking our Social Security benefits out there in the stock market.
Voters prefer Obama's positions to McCain's on most major issues.
Yet McCain wiped out his lead.
Obama knows "experts" have been wrong before: Hillary Clinton would mop the floor with him unless he got down in the mud. He wouldn't be able to attract white votes in Iowa. A gaffe in Iraq could ruin his bid. The resentful Clintons would wreck his convention in Denver.
The New York Times reported Sept. 8 on Democratic fears that Obama's change message was so stale he was struggling to raise campaign cash – dispelled by a record-breaking $66 million generated in August.
He outmaneuvered the Clinton machine and fended off criticism that even though he cut his political teeth organizing in Chicago, he's not tough enough.
Whatever you call these women, they are the ultimate swing voters.
They are more pragmatic than partisan – and they haven't made up their minds as the first debate approaches Friday.