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Politics | 08/19/2008 9:03 am

McCain Not a Ladies' Man?

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
© AP

Barack Obama’s campaign is trying to convince Americans that John McCain won’t be successful in wooing women voters.

Dana Singiser, who oversees Barack Obama’s women’s outreach efforts, issued a memo Monday, arguing that the Republican presidential hopeful made a major effort to reach women voters in June because he’s so far behind his Democratic opponent in garnering the female vote.

"Despite his campaign’s outreach efforts, McCain’s attempt to bridge the gender gap has fallen flat," wrote Singiser. "He fares worse among women than any presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996."

Singiser, who is a former Hillary Clinton aide, noted that women have outvoted men in every election since 1964, and that during this year’s Democratic primaries, the women’s vote reached at least 59 percent in 14 states.

"During the Democratic National Convention next week we will mark Women’s Equality Day, the anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States,” she said. “Eighty-eight years after the right of American women to vote was written into our Constitution, the women’s vote will make the difference in this election."

CBS News and CNN note that McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds did not respond directly to the Singiser memo, but said: "Barack Obama is spinning this issue to disguise his support for higher taxes, and refusing to acknowledge that the legislation he’s promoting has more to do with paychecks for trial lawyers than the struggles of working women."

Bounds said the Equal Pay Legislation, which Obama supports, would benefit trial lawyers in part because it could lead to frivolous lawsuits.

Here are five reasons, according to the Obama campaign, that McCain can’t get the women vote:

1.) Women voters don’t trust McCain because of his extreme positions on the key issues important to them. Obama leads McCain by 10 points (42% vs. 32%) when it comes to which candidate women trust more. (The August 5 poll also found that 14% said they trust neither, and 5% trust both.)

2.) Women want change from the last eight years of neglect for America’s middle-class families and women’s economic security.

3.) Equal Pay: 77% of women believe the next president should address the issue of providing women with equal pay for equal work. McCain has opposed legislation to provide more effective remedies to victims of pay discrimination, and legislation to overturn the Ledbetter decision — a pay discrimination case filed by Lilly Ledbetter against Goodyear. The case was thrown out last year by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision delivered by conservative Justice Samuel Alito.

4.) Health Care Costs: McCain’s health-care plan "isn’t expected to make a major dent in the number of uninsured Americans," and he would – for the first time in our nation’s history – tax health-care benefits. Only 27% of women are very confident that they will be able to afford health care for themselves and their families. There is a disproportionate number of women who are uninsured or in danger of losing their coverage.

5.) Women’s Reproductive Rights: 62% of women believe that Roe v. Wade established a constitutional right, but McCain has bragged about consistently receiving a zero rating from pro-choice group NARAL during his 25-year voting career. McCain has repeatedly voted against federal funding for family planning, and accessibility of contraceptives for women. McCain’s support among Republican pro-choice women dropped by 9% after hearing his positions.

188 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

georgia fatwood
Just get a room, y’all
By georgia fatwood on 08/20/2008 4:26 pm
Star Lawrence
I think only half of her voters support him. We are not crossing over because he was “mean” to her but because of things about him, of which that is only one.
By Star Lawrence on 08/21/2008 12:01 pm
sibelle daubigne
James, they are called the “Mc Couilles”
By sibelle daubigne on 08/20/2008 7:55 pm
sibelle daubigne
James they are called the “Mc Couilles”
By sibelle daubigne on 08/20/2008 7:58 pm
Dona Howlett
James, I find it so hard to believe that any intelligent person who backed Hillary would turn around and vote for McCain, a man who is the extreme opposite of Hillary. I remember we had a thread about revenge a couple of weeks ago……….that’s what is sound like to me. If they vote that way they will be sorry down the road when they start suffering the consequence of their revenge.
By Dona Howlett on 08/21/2008 1:11 am
James the Game
Well, now, Dona, we have to be careful about characterizing people with opposing viewpoints as lacking intelligence. But I agree with you that revenge may drive some Hillary supporters to cross over and vote for McCain…and making a presidential choice based on emotions is not, perhaps, the wisest thing to do. However, I have stated on this website that I believe the VP selections will be Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.
By James the Game on 08/21/2008 1:38 am
Dona Howlett
James my intent was not to imply that these people were not intelligent. I said they were intelligent but I couldn’t believe they would go to the extreme opposite after being good supporters of Hillary.
By Dona Howlett on 08/21/2008 1:41 am
James the Game
I know, and I hear you, Dona. I know you mean well, and you know you mean well, but some of the other posters don’t seem to realize that about other posters, based on all the nasty comments I read. But my point was that we have to be especially careful with the written word, because it can so easily be misconstrued. People cannot see your facial expressions or hear your vocal inflections. I’ve been burned before because of that very thing. I know you always have goodwill and good intentions. And, with that, for me, it’s goodnight.
By James the Game on 08/21/2008 1:52 am
Diana T
I googled obamacans, and found a whole bunch of stuff. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11482.html I think they are mostly moderate Republicans. People like Olympia Snow in the Senate.
By Diana T on 08/19/2008 11:33 pm
James the Game
Nearly one in four are swing voters”, according to the link you provided Diana. No wonder McCain’s putting out those silly ads that Obama would hurt the economy (as if another four years of Bush/McCain & Iraq would do no harm). I think Obama needs to pain McCain as having an itchy war trigger finger, and continue to lump him with George W. and the rotting economy. Don’t be surprised if Bush starts another military confrontation, just to help get McCain elected. All the tough talk from Condy Rice has already bolstered McCain’s poll numbers, according to a CNN report I watched this evening.
By James the Game on 08/19/2008 11:44 pm
Diana T
Hello, James, I just ran across this piece a minute ago. I think you will be interested in reading it…written by one of his classmates who was also a POW. Mentions that nasty temper again. http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html I just hate to have this guy in charge of the little red button if you know what I mean. If you want some good objective information on the Georgia/Russia situation, the Council on Foreign Relations has a great website. Let me know what your thoughts are on this story I’m sending you.
By Diana T on 08/20/2008 12:04 am
James the Game
Thank you for the article link, Diana. That was an interesting piece. I feel Phil Butler gave a fair, even-handed account of the events that transpired in ‘Nam, and his views and recollections regarding John McCain. Butler’s entitled to his opinion, and he certainly gave McCain due credit for his courage and patriotism, but also questioned McCain’s temperament for the position of president. What I found most interesting was his view that the malnutrition and other mistreatments endured by the POW’s may detrimentally affect McCain’s health within the next four years, based on his observations of other POW’s. Fascinating.
By James the Game on 08/20/2008 12:17 am
Diana T
James!!! Is that you up there in the avatar? Now we can see who we are talking to here. Good for you. Wouldn’t this be an interesting research subject to research, albeit McCain or any POW? I bet somewhere on this internet, there is research data discussing this very subject. Having spent decades working in the medical management field, and being a very curious person, I learned how to delve into medical research subjects with relish. McCain’s health factor is of concern to me. Research shows that melanoma has a recurrence problem, especially in the facial areas, and of course he has had 4 (I believe) removed already. If that type of ca. spreads, it is very serious and usually fatal. But, as far as his POW experience, I would think he has suffered with permanent damage, and if he is running for President, then we the citizens need to be privy to his mental records because you were right in the previous post….he is the one pushing the red button.
By Diana T on 08/20/2008 9:58 am
James the Game
Greetings, Diana. What do you mean, is that me up there in the avatar? My photo’s been up there for many weeks in plain view. The recurring melanoma on McCain is supposedly quite catchable and treatable, and therefore, shouldn’t be a problem in the White House, where he’ll get constant medical attention. The long-term effects of malnutrition and other enforced tortures upon POW’s does, indeed, sound like an interesting topic - especially, if, as Phil Butler suggests, it hits ex-POW’s rather suddenly with advancing age.
By James the Game on 08/20/2008 10:55 am
DeBúrca obj
James, I heard something very interesting today that pertains to what you’re saying about McCains trigger finger. A woman called into the Thom Hartman show suggesting that with McCain doing all this questioning of Obamas abilities to handle “Russia, etc.” Obama should really go after McCain’s saber rattling (and Georgian-lobbyist foreign policy advisor) and do what Lyndon Johnson did in 1964 with the “Daisy girl” ad. It was just the one ad and it ran only one time, but it did the job of labeling Goldwater as a warmonger. That’s where Obama needs to hit hard. Hartman thought it was a great idea and said it should be done by a group like MoveOn… so I emailed them and suggested it. You can find that original ad on youtube, it was very controversial at the time, but definitely worked and it sure fits in this case. Oh what the heck, here’s the like to the original ad on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63h_v6uf0Ao it’s chilling but it did the job.
By DeBúrca obj on 08/20/2008 12:12 am