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At her Carson, Calif. rally Saturday, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was introduced by Shelly Mandell, president of the National Organization for Women's Los Angeles chapter, who acknowledged that she was a lifelong Democrat.
“It is an honor to call her a sister,” said Mandell, who emphasized that she was there as a private citizen, not as a representative of NOW. “America, this is what a feminist looks like.”
When she mentioned the D-word, Mandell got a chorus of boos.
Palin began her speech by mentioning that one can be progressive and conservative, then quoted, or slightly misquoted, a well-known Democratic woman.
“It’s like kind of providential yesterday what happened to me,” Palin said. “I am reading on my Starbucks mocha cup the quote of the day. You’ll never believe what the quote was! It was Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state and U.N. ambassador, and Madeleine has as her quote of the day for Starbucks — now she said it, I didn’t say it — ‘There is a place in hell reserved for women who don’t support other women.’ OK now, thank you so much for receiving that well, I didn’t know how that was gonna go over. And now California, let’s see what a comment like I just made, let’s see what it will be turned into . . . newspaper.”
Well, how about the blog instead of the newspaper?
Anyway, turns out, according to CBS News’ Scott Conroy, that Palin got the quote slightly wrong. Albright actually said, “There is a place in hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.”
So can Palin’s tweak be construed as changing the meaning of the quote?
Some certainly think so.
—Robin Abcarian
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According to a news release from CBS News, Harry Smith will have an exclusive interview this morning with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's parents, Chuck and Sally Heath, on "The Early Show."
It's not really exclusive, of course. CNN's Drew Griffin interviewed the proud father of the Republican Party's first female vice presidential candidate way back on Sept. 8 (see video by clickin g on the "Read More" line below), when her father said, "She's still my little girl."
But, hey, this is TV and the CBS interview is exclusive for this morning.
It'll be the last peek into the family of Palin before her much-anticipated debate Thursday in St. Louis against longtime Sen. Joe Biden. But have Palin's Democratic opponents overplayed their hand in portraying the 44-year-old mother of five so derisively in recent days?
Was John McCain manager Steve Schmidt's puzzingly strong attack on the New York Times last week really a trap, an intentional bid to call even more attention to negative coverage of Palin to lower expectations?
Harry Smith flew all the way up to Alaska last week and drove out to Wasilla with his crew to learn that Chuck Heath, who looks like the high school track coach he was when his daughter ran to a cross-country championship for him, thinks:
"She is ready to do anything she wants to. She perseveres. She works so hard. She learns so fast."
Knowing full well what he's going to get back from the worried....
Read more How Democrats set Sarah Palin up to 'win' Thursday's VP debate »
Sarah Palin's meeting in New York this morning with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari — part of her crash course in foreign affairs — began innocuously enough.
"So nice to meet you," she told him, according to the pool report filed by CNN, and he responded in kind.
Simple, civil salutations. But Zardari soon steered the conversation in a direction that would make Campbell Brown, the CNN anchor who Tuesday called John McCain's campaign aides sexist, cringe and cry chauvinism. Here is the exchange:
ZARDARI: “You are even more gorgeous than you are on the [inaudible].”
PALIN: “You are so nice. Thank you.”
ZARDARI: “Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you.”
[A Zardari handler tells the two to shake hands again for the cameras.]
PALIN: “I’m supposed to pose again.”
ZARDARI: “If he’s insisting, I might hug.”
At that point, the pool reporter was escorted from the room.
— Kate Linthicum
On the one hand, it is an endorsement that comes as no surprise.
On the other hand, the decision by NOW's political arm to officially embrace the Democratic presidential ticket is a step out of the ordinary -- traditionally, the group does not announce a pick in the fight for the White House.
Kim Gandy, the president of the 42-year-old National Organization for Women, in a statement released Tuesday, called it "very unusual" for the group's political action committee "to endorse in a presidential election." But referring to Barack Obama, she added, "this is an unprecedented candidate and an unprecedented time for our country."
The statement, after detailing specific policy areas in which Obama's record squares with NOW's agenda, offers this summary: For more than a decade, Barack Obama has said "yes" to women's rights, while John McCain has consistently said "no" -– NO to pay equity, NO to contraceptive access and reproductive rights, NO to appointing Supreme Court judges who will uphold women's rights and civil rights, NO to funding shelters and other anti-violence programs, and NO to supporting working moms and dads with policies that support work/life balance.
In the statement that supports the ticket that does not include a women while turning its back on the one that does, no mention is made of Sarah Palin.
On a similar note, Obama running mate Joe Biden gets an approving nod in a lengthy New Republic article reviewing his record on women's issues.
Writer Fred Strebeigh notes that since Biden got tapped for the vice presidential slot, he "has been pitted against women, first taking the job that many Hillary Clinton supporters felt was her due, then facing off against another historic woman, Sarah Palin, who could become the first female vice president of the United States. ... But the irony of this assessment is that Biden has some of the best feminist bona fides around."
-- Don Frederick
Forget the battle for the White House -- here's a campaign that's really heating up: the bid by a new women’s group to hold Chris Matthews accountable for what it asserts is “misogynistic journalism" practiced by the voluble MSNBC political pundit.
The New Agenda, a nonpartisan organization promoting women’s rights, today sent a letter to NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker asking for a meeting to discuss Matthews’ attitude toward women.
Amy Siskind, one of the group's founders, said in an interview it wants Matthews (at right, with Ron Reagan behind him) to issue a public apology and change his on-air behavior. Absent that, he needs to be fired, she said.
The New Agenda also sent its letter to various Democratic officials in Pennsylvania -- Matthews' native state, where there has been chatter he might seek the party's nomination for the Senate in 2010.
The group's letter applauded the recent decision by MSNBC to remove Matthews and Keith Olbermann from prominent roles anchoring political events, but said more action is needed.
"MSNBC can regain its reputation as a respectable news organization by taking more appropriate action against Chris Matthews," the letter said. "If Matthews were an employee in a Fortune 500 company, he would have been fired for sexual harassment long ago. Instead, MSNBC peddled misogynistic journalism to the American public."
Compiling a list of actions that it deemed offensive, The New Agenda wrote that the "Hardball" host a couple of years asked if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would "castrate" a fellow Democrat with whom she had feuded, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
The letter also faults Matthews for likening Hillary Clinton, during the Democratic primary campaign, to Nurse Ratched, the power-mad character from Ken Kesey’s novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest."
And it cited a statement by Matthews that Clinton owed her political success to her husband’s having “messed around" -- a reference to Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. Matthews later apologized on the air for that comment.
"The historic candidacies of both Hillary Clinton and [Republican vice presidential nominee] Sarah Palin have brought to light for all Americans the rampant sexism in the media," the letter said.
Matthews, through a spokesman, declined comment.
-- Peter Nicholas
Photo credit: L.A. Times/Ken Hively
The Ticket knows it's hard to believe. We had to read it twice to believe it ourselves.
But there it is for all to see, an editorial from the New York Times that calls for fairness in selection of vice presidential candidates, that it's a wonderfully practical idea for the major parties to pick political unknowns and test them in high office and allow them to become statesmen. And especially so if they are women.
And it was the day's lead editorial to o, right at the top of the very gray page for all to wade through.
Here's part of that editorial to see for yourself:
"Presidential candidates have always chosen their running mates for reasons of practical demography, not idealized democracy.
"One might even say demography is destiny; this candidate is chosen because he could deliver Texas, that one because he personified rectitude, that one because he appealed to the other wing of the party.
"On occasion, Americans find it necessary to rationalize this rough-and-ready process. What a splendid system, we say to ourselves, that takes little-known men, tests them in high office and permits them to grow into statesmen. This rationale may even be right, but then let it also be fair. Why shouldn't a little-known woman have the same opportunity to grow?
"We may even be gradually elevating our standards for choosing Vice Presidential candidates. But that should be done fairly, also. Meanwhile, the indispensable credential for a Woman Who is the same as for a Man Who -- someone who helps the ticket."
Well, there you have it. The New York Times obviously endorsing Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin, who, judging by recent polls and all the media attention, certainly has helped John McCain's Republican ticket.
This New York Times editorial, by the way, was just published on July 3.
Oh, wait. It says July 3, 1984.
Oh, and it was talking about someone named Walter Mondale plucking a New York nobody with no executive experience from the oblivion of the House of Representatives, Geraldine Ferraro.
Well, sure, he and she were Democrats. But what difference should party possibly make if we're truly talking about advancing American democracy by making it more fair?
Especially if we're talking about the gender area where the other party's candidate, Barack Obama, so ostentatiously passed over a qualified woman as his vice presidential running mate? (And another New Yorker at that!) Not to mention skipping over the female governor of Kansas and the female senator from Missouri.
Instead, he picked a male 36-year senator from the same old boys' club. How is that change we can believe in needing? Or whatever this week's motto is.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Associated Press
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A veteran Democratic political strategist has some advice for what appears to many to be a Barack Obama campaign rattled by the explosive entrance into the campaign of John McCain's vice pres ident pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Mark Penn, the high-priced strategist who did such a good early job of launching Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign to doom at the hands of Obama, tells CBS.com he's worried that the Windy City gang will repeat the mistakes of the last two losing Democratic presidential campaigns by returning to the base after their convention instead of staying more on the convention message of centrism.
"It was more about tax cuts and strengthening the economy," says Penn, who notes that all campaigns go through periods of stress. "I think it was a message that was resonating. And so what happens in a situation like this is everybody rushes in with different pieces of advice. And it can be very hard to stay the course."
Penn says that if there's one thing the Obama campaign has been good at for 19 months it's scheduling major speeches on topical issues to focus attention on its agenda, and that it ought to do that on the ...
Read more Mark Penn, Clinton strategist, warns Obama -- and the media »
Thank goodness after all this lipstick-swine silliness we can get back to the important issues of this evolving presidential campaign, like whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin should have gotten an abortion upon learning during her recent pregnancy that she would give birth to a boy with Down syndrome.
We were shocked too to learn today that the "issue" of her non-abortion had apparently not been vetted by Sen. John McCain's campaign.
Nor, it seems, has that problem come up during the hasty media vetting of the 44-year-old mother of five since she was named the surprise Republican vice presidential running mate on Aug. 29.
Fortunately, Carol Fowler, the chairwoman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, was on duty to alert the rest of us today. In the apparent Palin Panic that seems to be seizing some local Democrats, Fowler told Alex Burns over at Politico.com that the former city councilwoman, mayor, current governor and vice presidential nominee was a female candidate "whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn't had an abortion."
The Ticket was, of course, in the Xcel Energy Center last week when....
Read more S.C. Dem chair says Sarah Palin's 'primary qualification' as VP is not having an abortion »
Oh, boy! Or girl! For a presidential race where three of the four major candidates are of the male persuasion, they're spending an awful lot of time talking about lipstick.
Another measure perhaps of how the addition of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to the political mix in the Republican's No. 2 spot has shaken things up on both sides in just 12 days.
New polls out Monday revealed a 20-point swing in support of white women away from the Barack Obama-Joe Biden Democratic ticket over toward the John McCain-Palin package, attributed largely to the blast of fresh air and down-to-earthness brought by the surprise presence of the 44-year-old reform governor and mother of five.
Today, Obama walked into some Republican machine-gun fire when he appeared to echo Palin's lipstick line from her widely viewed and quoted convention speech last week.
The self-described hockey mom ad libbed a joke in response to audience cheers from Alaska women: "You know what the difference is between a hockey mom and a pit bull?" she asked, pausing perfectly. "Lipstick!"
It was one of the best-received lines of the night and widely quoted and replayed for days afterward.
Today, campaigning in Lebanon, Va., and complaining about the GOP ticket portraying itself as agents of change, Obama (see video below) said ...
Read more Suddenly, McCain/Obama battle over lipstick -- Porky's or Palin's »
Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire TV talk-show diva who is supporting the Democratic presidential nominee, says she will  not allow the Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on her daily show, which is widely viewed by women.
The 44-year-old Palin is the first female nominee on a Republican presidential ticket in the party's 164-year history, though she is little-known outside Alaska, where she was elected a reform governor in 2006.
Palin, a former high school basketball star and beauty pageant contestant, is the mother of five, an outdoorswoman and part owner in her husband Todd's commercial fishing business.
This past year Oprah endorsed Barack Obama for president. It was the first time she b ecame publicly involved in politics.
Oprah emceed numerous rallies for the freshman Democrat senator in key caucus and primary states, drawing large crowds, donations, media coverage and many new volunteers. She also hosted a lucrative fundraiser at one of her homes, near Santa Barbara. But she has so many we can't count 'em.
Oprah's political involvement, as noted previously by...
Read more Obama-backer Oprah says no Sarah Palin on her TV show »
ST. PAUL -- Excitement is already beginning to mount in the convention hall for the arrival at tonight's podium of the first female ever on a Republican presidential ticket. All of the men in the 114-member Florida delegation, gentlemen all, have given their floor passes to the women in their lives.
Their spouses, daughters and other women now sit in the official delegation seats so that they can all rise as one to salute Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin when she arrives shortly to give her speech at the Republican National Convention.
As 35-year-old Jennifer Samuels, a Miramar homemaker standing in for her husband, explained, "She's very human. And I think a lot of women relate to that."
Like tonight's speakers, many of the delegates blamed members of the media for what they consider unfair initial coverage of Palin and her family.
Arlene Krings, an interior decorator from Fairway, Kan., complained that liberals in the press "ridiculed" Palin's pregnant teenage daughter, Bristol.
"I believe the only two groups that attack children are terrorists and liberals," she said.
-- Bob Drogin
Photo credit: Reuters
Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden made a comment about Sarah Palin -- his soon-to-be-counterpart on the Republican ticket -- that our colleague Andrew Malcolm found out of bounds.
Perhaps legendary GOP political guru Karl Rove agreed. Or perhaps Rove, as he appeared before the Maine delegation to the Republican National Convention in Minnesota's Twin Cities, simply was in a dismissive mood.
Whatever, Rove offered this characterization of Biden: He's a "big blowhard doofus."
A blog that tracks the political ebb and flow in Maine, PolitickerME.com, has more on Biden's appearance.
-- Don Frederick
In this July 14, 2005 file photo,former White House advisor Karl Rove is shown in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, file)
Oh, jeez, here we go already. With the canny, seemingly good-natured-but-really-a-put-down jokes about a female candidate.
The lone female is gone from the Democratic race; they can't use the old pantsuits laugher anymore. So Joe Biden trotted out the subtly dismissive, isn't-she-pretty line about you-know-who, the newbie on the Republican side. (Translation: There's really nothing else to her to comment about, but I won't say that because I'm not a sexist.)
We wonder how this goes down with those millions of female Hillary Clinton supporters whom both sides covet.
Biden was in Ohio with his Democratic ticket partner, whom he once described as "clean," and told an outdoor rally:
“There’s a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent,” Biden said.
“She’s good-looking,” he quipped.
Yeah, really, hold your sides on that one.
Let's turn that reference around 180-degrees and imagine a female candidate in front of a large audience talking about some, oh, hypothetical male opponent for the vice presidency. "Thirty-six years in the United States Senate," she says, "And all he's got to show for it is a beautiful head of hairplugs."
Real classy, right?
-- Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Associated Press
The obvious historical implications of John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as a running mate, hot on the heels of Barack Obama officially securing the Democratic presidential nomination, were quickly and duly noted: One way or the other, a demographic breakthrough will occur in this year's election.
Less noted was this: For the first time since they joined the union not quite 50 years ago, the nation's two most far-flung -- and youngest -- states each have a horse in the White House race.
Obama's native Hawaii had been a state slightly less than two years when he was born there on Aug. 4, 1961 (its admission date: Aug. 21, 1959).
Palin isn't an Alaskan by birth, but she came pretty darn close -- she was an infant when her family moved there from Idaho in 1964. At that point, it had been a state for about five and a half years (admission date: Jan. 3, 1959).
Either way, a milestone will be achieved for a state never before represented at the highest levels of the executive branch.
-- Don Frederick
John McCain made strides in overcoming the reluctant attitude many social conservatives long have held toward him with his strong performance at the Saddleback Church forum earlier this month. Now, with his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, he may have fully brought them aboard the "Straight Talk Express."
Typical of the effusive response to the Palin pick was a statement from Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition: At a time when Americans want change in Washington, Sara [sic] Palin is a fresh and energetic voice joining the debate. I am thrilled with Senator McCain’s choice and I look forward to having this strong and independent woman who brings a lot of substance to the campaign.
It is interesting to hear all of these liberals whine about foreign policy experience. Where were they when the Democrats were nominating Bill Clinton, a Governor of Arkansas to be President? How about Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer from rural Georgia?
The audacity of their hypocrisy is galling.
This was a very wise move by Sen. McCain. He has done what Sen. [Barack] Obama refused to do -– pick a qualified woman to be his running mate. Instead, Obama picked a Washington insider who has been part of the old guard of radical liberals who are still trying to raise taxes, protect the abortion industry and pack our federal courts with activist judges.
This move – the day after Obama’s Greek Temple speech – has sucked the air out of Obama’s 15-minutes of fame. I predict that Obama will end up back in the Senate humiliated by a devastating defeat.
The coalition promises further comment on Palin during the Republican National Convention next week in St. Paul, Minn.; presumably, the group will correctly spell her first name.
-- Don Frederick
Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, right, speaks as Republican Presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., listens Friday, Aug. 29, 2008 at Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. McCain announced Palin as his running mate at the event. AP photo by Kiichiro Sato
Read more Sarah Palin pick a big hit with social conservatives »
As an unswerving member of the left wing of the Democratic Party, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California wasn't going to be much impressed with whomever John McCain selected as a running mate.
Still, her reaction to the pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is noteworthy for its sharpness, especially given Boxer's commitment to feminist causes. Here's Boxer statement: The vice president is a heartbeat away from becoming president, so to choose someone with not one hour’s worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.
If John McCain thought that choosing Sarah Palin would attract Hillary Clinton voters, he is badly mistaken.
The only similarity between her and Hillary Clinton is that they are both women. On the issues, they could not be further apart.
Sen. McCain had so many other options if he wanted to put a woman on his ticket, such as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe -– they would have been an appropriate choice compared to this dangerous choice.
In addition, Sarah Palin is under investigation by the Alaska state legislature, which makes this more incomprehensible.
Snowe, considered by many in the GOP a RINO -- Republican in Name Only -- never was a vice presidential prospect. Hutchison's name surfaced over the last few days as a strong possibility, but her stance in favor of abortion rights likely made her a non-starter for the McCain camp.
-- Don Frederick
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., makes a point during her address at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. AP photo by Ron Edmonds
She never spoke his name.
In a seven-minute speech to women supporters, Hillary Rodham Clinton urged voters to get behind “our nominees’’ but did not specifically mention her old rival, Barack Obama.
Clinton’s appearance in an outdoor courtyard here was a kind of time warp. Hundreds of supporters wore Clinton buttons and T-shirts and said they were heart-broken about her defeat in the Democratic primary. During the event, loudspeakers blared theme songs from her unsuccessful primary bid, including Tom Petty's "American Girl.''
She previewed the speech she is to deliver later tonight, saying, “I believe with all my heart that the Democratic Party represents a much better future for everything we believe in and care about and I will be making a very strong case tonight that we stand behind our nominees in order to keep pushing progress forward.’’
Clinton also made reference to a sore point during the primary: gender bias. Commending the hosts of the event, an organization called WomenCount, she said, “I urge all of you to support women running at all levels of government, but also on behalf of other concerns that were raised during the course of the campaign. WomenCount will continue to stand up against the pervasive bias we saw in the media.’’
Clinton stood on a small stage with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who did not give a speech. In her opening, Clinton talked about this being a historic week, marking the anniversary of both Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream’’ speech, as well as the Constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. But in talking about the week’s significance she did not mention that convention delegates would be nominating the Democratic Party’s first African-American candidate: Obama.
Of course, Clinton could have been exercising discretion. In this crowd, had she mentioned Obama the name might have been greeted with boos.
Evelyn Kenny, 60, a public speaking coach from Denver who came to the Clinton event, was asked how many Clinton voters would support Obama.
“Right now, I’d say 50-50,’’ Kenny said. “A lot of us liked her experience and a lot of people that like Hillary may say, well, if it can’t be Hillary, let’s have McCain.’ ’’
--Peter Nicholas
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A lot of California's Democrats who thought it was their time with an overwhelming candidate like Sen. Hillary Clinton this year are in Denver now, and they're still disappointed.
But, hey, at least they were going to hear their favorite former first lady speak to them this morning.
Alas, their candidate didn't bother to show up for some unexplained reason. They felt kind of snubbed. Bad enough. But then they got another less sympathetic speaker, a Californian, in fact.
The delegation was treated to a speech by another prominent female Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Important person and all. But admittedly not The Favored One they had in mind. Pelosi told the Californians how enthusiastically she personally was supporting the actual one chosen, the party's real nominee, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
And then, in the interests of promoting the party's fragile political unity at the moment, she told the California Clinton supporters to “get over it.”
Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice K. Hahn said she realizes that Obama will work hard for the causes she believes in and she is ready to work for the freshman senator's election to the White House.
But, she added, getting over Clinton's loss would not be easy.
“It’s a heartbreaker for a lot of us,” she said. “We thought it was our time.”
(UPDATE: This just in: Some kindly Republicans have just announced they are throwing a "Happy Hour for Hillary" tonight in Denver at the Paramount Cafe at 519 16th Street from 8:30 until 10:30 p.m. All Clinton supporters are welcome.)
--John Mitchell
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DENVER -- So which stumble at today's Democratic lovefest in Springfield, Ill., will live on the longest -- Barack Obama introducing his running mate pick as "the next president," or the Joe Biden crack about his wife that has not been universally well received? 
If it's the latter, at least Biden gets a pass on it from the highest-ranking woman in the history of U.S. politics -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi had barely arrived in Denver this afternoon before she was holding court at a small luncheon with the media at the city's historic Brown Palace Hotel.
As the session wrapped up, and she was offering the expected prediction that the about-to-begin Democratic National Convention would "achieve its purpose" of sealing any overt cracks in party unity, a pesky reporter asked if Biden's attempt at humor about his mate might exacerbate efforts to get all of Hillary Clinton's hard-core backers on the bandwagon.
Here's what Biden had said in his debut as the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee: "Ladies and gentlemen, my wife Jill, who you'll meet soon, is drop dead gorgeous. My wife Jill, who you'll meet soon, she also has her doctorate degree, which is a problem. But all kidding aside ..."
Pelosi, who had spent much of the lunch depicting an America in dire straits after eight years of a Republican administration, didn't miss a beat: "Lighten up," she said. "We've got a planet to save."
She added that if Biden found his wife beautiful, "That's A-OK."
But what about the PhD part of Biden's comment? That's what sparked reaction in the blogosphere, including an item by Adele Stan on Huffington Post headlined: "Careful Joe! 'Smart Women" Jokes a Dicey Game."
Of the "gorgeous" remark, Stan opined: "Nothing wrong with that. Who wouldn't want to be described as such by his or her partner?"
But of the doctorate addendum, she wrote: "It was obviously a failed attempt at humor. Or perhaps I'm just a humorless feminist. Either way, one can only hope this isn't a harbinger of gaffes to come."
Clinton's name came up a couple of times at the Pelosi gathering. The speaker was asked...
Read more Joe Biden's crack about wife Jill? No problem, Nancy Pelosi says »
DENVER -- As Barack Obama let the suspense build this last week over his vice presidential pick -- and a spate of new polls showed a virtual dead heat in the race for the White House -- the chattering classes indulged in one last bout of speculation about a Democratic "dream ticket."
With that prospect now officially dead, Hillary Clinton today issued the following statement: "In naming my colleague and friend Joe Biden to be the vice presidential nominee, Barack Obama has continued in the best traditions for the vice presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant. Senator Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Senator Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country.”
Regardless, as Democrats descend on Denver, taking the temperature of Clinton supporters -- now that their party's ticket does not include her, one of her supporters, or a woman -- will be one of the main media preoccupations.
As John McCain's choice of a running mate nears, we also would not be surprised if one last burst of attention focuses on women that he might choose, such as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
-- Don Frederick
The antipathy toward Barack Obama among some Hillary Clinton backers notwithstanding, he's doing well among the nation's female voters -- better, according to a new poll focusing on female voters, than Al Gore's adva ntage as summer was starting in 2000 or John Kerry's edge at a comparable period four years later.
But the pollster whose firm conducted the survey for EMILY's List sees room for improvement by Obama among women voters -- especially older ones.
“There are still Democratic votes on the table" that Obama "can go out and get,” Geoff Garin said at a briefing Wednesday attended by The Times' Cynthia Dizikes.
The poll of more than 1,400 women voters quizzed during the first week of August found Obama ahead of John McCain by 12 percentage points.
So far, so good, from a Democratic point of view. Gore led in a similar survey by 9 points in June 2000; on election day, network exit polls showed him carrying the women's vote over George W. Bush by 11 points. Kerry led among these voters by a mere 1 point in a June survey when he ran for the presidency; he eventually won them by 3 points in his loss to Bush, according to the exit polls.
But just as Obama is widely perceived to be underperforming in polling of all voters -- a perception that has only grown with several new surveys showing him in a virtual dead heat with McCain -- Garin's analysis of his results indicates that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee should not be satisfied with his current support level among women.
The sweeping poll, which asked questions on a range of topics and can be examined here, found that when dividing its participants into age groups, Obama had the potential to improve his numbers.
The poll respondents were asked not only about the presidential race, but whether they would support a "generic" (i.e., theoretical) Democratic or Republican congressional candidate.
Those between the ages of 44 to 62 (baby boomers) favored Obama over McCain by 6 percentage points -- but the generic Democratic over a Republican by 17 points.
The gap was even more striking among those older than 62; this group tilted toward Obama by 11 points, but toward the generic Democrat by a whopping 27 points.
Senior women represent Obama's ...
Read more Barack Obama and women voters: His numbers are good, but could be better »
We knew Barack Obama would have trouble winning over Hillary Clinton loyalists in places like Columbus, Ohio, and Morgantown, W.Va. and the middle of Pennsylvania where all those bitter, smalltown gun owners live.
But who thought there would be an issue in Stockholm, Sweden?
The Scandinavia problem surfaced when a Democratic political strategist offered an analysis of his party's vice presidential sweepstakes Thursday night to the Democrats Abroad organization in Stockholm.
Kevin Lampe said he didn't believe Obama would choose Clinton or, for that matter, any other woman as his vice presidential running mate.
Lampe’s reasoning, according to folks who attended the...
Read more Even in Sweden, Hillary Clinton loyalists are stirred up »
A new women’s organization is setting out to get Chris Matthews fired from his job at MSNBC, calling his treatment of women on his show sexist.
The nonpartisan group, called The New Agenda, held its first meeting this week in New York and  established as one of its goals the sacking of the host of "Hardball with Chris Matthews."
Matthews’ contract is up for renewal next year. His plans are unclear, but in his home state of Pennsylvania, some Democrats have pushed for him to abandon TV and run for the Senate in 2010 against the Republican incumbent Arlen Specter. (A recent Quinnipiac poll found that to be a potentially competitive matchup, with Specter leading Matthews 41% to 36%.)
The 30-some women who attended New Agenda's inaugural meeting included representatives of other women’s groups from around the country, along with supporters of Hillary Clinton’s defunct presidential campaign, according to one of the founders.
“The goal of the group is when his contract comes up for negotiation is to have it not be renewed," said Amy Siskind of Westchester, N.Y., a New Agenda founder and a Clinton supporter. “The kind of language he uses and the kind of behavior he exhibits in the public domain toward women objectifies them and leads to bad things for our society and to domestic violence."
MSNBC spokeswoman Alana Russo said today that Matthews was out sick and unavailable for comment.
Clinton loyalists were displeased with Matthews’ coverage of the Democratic primary race and what they see as a long-established pattern of demeaning behavior toward women.
For instance, in 2007 Matthews was talking on the air with Erin Burnett, a CNBC business news anchor, when he asked her to lean into the camera. "Come in closer. Really close," he told a flustered Burnett. He then laughed and said, "Just kidding, you look great.... You’re a knockout."
In January, Matthews apologized on the air for a comment he made about Clinton’s political achievements. He had said she owed her Senate seat and presidential bid to the fact that her husband had "messed around," a reference to the sex scandal that led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment.
Siskind would not reveal what tactics the group would use to get Matthews off the air. She likened the organization to the Navy Seals, saying their methods would be "covert."
Describing MSNBC as "the boys of sexism" cable network, she also suggested Matthews may not be the group's sole target.
New Agenda's other goals will include helping women politicians who might one day compete for president, Siskind added.
-- Peter Nicholas
Photo: NBC News
A group of Hillary Clinton supporters wants the Democratic national platform to include a line decrying "pervasive gender bias in the media," but a new poll of attitudes among women about the '08 campaign does not lend much support to the push.
The survey, a joint endeavor by well-known Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway and Democratic counterpart Celinda Lake, found that "despite all the talk about sexism in the presidential campaign, the majority of women voters laid the blame for Hillary's loss squarely on her and her strategists' shoulders; they largely reject gender as a cause of her demise."
The precise numbers: 34% said she lost "because of the kind of campaign she ran"; 31% said because of "who she is and what she stands for"; 21% said "because she is a woman."
The poll, conducted for Lifetime Networks as part of its "Every Woman Counts" effort to spur political participation by women, also found Barack Obama with a lead over John McCain among female voters -- but with 10% of that bloc of the electorate still "firmly undecided."
Obama was backed by 49% of those polled; McCain by 38% (the margin of error for the survey, conducted during the last week of July, was plus-or-minus 4.4%).
Obama's 11-percentage-point advantage matches the margin by which Al Gore carried women voters over George W. Bush in the 2000 election, according to exit polls. Bush, in turn, won male voters by 11 points (Gore won the popular vote because women turned out in greater numbers than men).
In 2004, the edge among women voters for the Democratic ticket headed by John Kerry shrunk to 3 percentage points; Bush, meanwhile, again carried the male vote by 11 points.
-- Don Frederick
It isn't often that an issue involving a specific state takes center stage during a presidential campaign -- particularly if the matter isn't even officially before the voters yet.
But an effort in Arizona to prohibit state and local governments from considering race, ethnicity, color, gender or national origin  in matters involving public employment, public education or public contracting was among the topics discussed by both John McCain and Barack Obama on Sunday.
The Arizona ballot initiative is the brainchild of Ward Connerly, the former UC regent who was behind a similar proposal in California more than a decade ago. His Proposition 209, approved in 1996 with 54% of the vote, amended the state constitution to prohibit public institutions from applying preferences based on race, gender or ethnicity.
He sponsored similar successful drives in Washington (1998) and Michigan (2006).
Now Connerly is taking his cause around the country, targeting Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska this year (efforts failed in Missouri and Oklahoma).
On Thursday, supporters delivered petitions containing about 100,000 more names than needed to the Arizona secretary of state's office, which now must verify the validity of each signature to determine if the initiative will make it on the November ballot.
Appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," McCain was asked specifically ....
Read more It's not even on the ballot yet, but McCain and Obama have positions »
In case you didn't know, there's a brand-new controversy raging about Jesse Jackson's whispered comment on Fox News about what he'd like to do to Barack Obama's private parts.
The controversy is not about whether the reverend's remarks are crude; that seems pretty well-established. And Jackson tried to preemptively apologize on another network as soon as Fox News ask ed him for comment before airing the tape.
The controversy is not over whether Jackson's mutilation desire shows a jealousy between the two Chicago South Side black leaders, at least one way on Jackson's part.
The controversy is over whether Jackson said he wanted to cut Obama's "nuts off" or "nuts out." No, really.
Apparently the actual tape is somewhat muffled. Although establishing such genital distinctions was not covered much back in journalism school, for the record for the moment The Times is going with "nuts off," because that's what Fox News showed on its screen caption.
There is, however, a good bit more to this simmering story, which thrust Jackson back into the publicity spotlight where he always looks so comfortable. And, as usual, The Times' Matea Gold doesn't miss a detail. She has the full engrossing story now over on the Show Tracker blog.
We'll just say also for the record that, frankly, "off" or "out" seems like pretty much the same effect and pretty much the same pain. But we're pretty much speculating there, fortunately.
--Andrew Malcolm
The John McCain "Straight Talk Express" rolled into Hudson, Wis., this morning for a town hall session on women in business. But the conversation wasn't all business, as the attendees also got a prescription from Cindy McCain on weight loss, our colleague Maeve Reston reports.
These kinds of events usually feature two or three introductory speakers, and first up this morning was J&L Steel Erectors Chief Executive LouAnne Reger. She told the crowd of more than 500 people -- mostly women -- about her two divorces, losing weight and a recent Nordstrom shopping trip. Cindy McCain then followed with her own weight-loss experience.
The best way to lose 30 pounds, she said, was to get out on the campaign trail. As proof: The white pants she was wearing were two sizes too big, she said. This, as Reston points out, comes from a woman who told Vogue that she wears size 0 Lucky Jeans. Not the kind of detail that's likely to strike a chord of empathy. Or, for that matter, the kind of experience the women in the crowd -- any crowd -- could replicate. How many will have a chance to hit the presidential campaign trail, as spouses or candidates?
Before the session began, the attendees were sung to by a barbershop quintet wearing American flag ties. The song list? "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "A Bicycle Built for Two" and "You Raise Me Up" (dedicated to the women in the crowd who have been "touched by cancer").
By the time it was candidate McCain's turn, Reston reports, he looked very relieved to get the mic.
-- Scott Martelle
Here's something fresh -- a politician rendered speechless, at least momentarily. Of course, few campaign conversations that involve Viagra and birth control can go anywhere good for a candidate.
In this video below, the questioner is our own Maeve Reston. The questionee -- John McCain, whom Reston asked for a reaction to a comment by McCain supporter-advisor Carly Fiorina about insurance companies that cover Viagra but not birth control. (And, yes, the image of a deer in the headlights comes to mind.)
Who says the late-night comedians get to have all the fun?
-- Scott Martelle
Yes, it's hard to picture, but good for her.
The woman who made pantsuits a staple of the late-night joke sessions and nearly became the first female presidential candidate of a major American political party has revealed a secret about her new life as presidential loser.
Lost in the thousands of words Hillary Clinton uttered in praise of Barack Obama, her party's nominee, and its political agenda during a speech earlier today to 2,000 women supporters in New York City, were a few litt le-noticed paragraphs that caught The Ticket's eye.
The 60-year-old senator tossed them out to the receptive audience almost in passing. But The Times' Louise Roug was transcribing the speech (which you can find in its entirety in one of our occasional In Her Own Words items here).
And here's what Clinton said in a kind of girlish admission:
"There are some differences (between Obama and myself).
"For example, Barack said (to me), 'you look kind of rested.' I said, 'well, kind of is the right descriptor.'
"But I'm actually -– don't tell anybody –- trying to exercise a little bit, which I'm told does wonders for a person.
"Because during the campaign," Clinton continued in a confessional tone, "I'm sure you've read, Barack would get up faithfully every morning and go to the gym. And I would get up, and get my hair done.
"It's one of those Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire things that are part of our lives."
Yes, sure, she was dating herself by referencing movies from the '30s and '40s (the nineteen-thirties and forties, when Democrats owned the White House), when the often-paired duo of Rogers and Astaire would glide across studio floors as if their feet weren't moving.
And maybe some of the 30-somethings in the audience were puzzled enough to hustle back to their office and try Googling these Asthair and Rodgers people. And they would learn that she was originally Virginia McMath and died in 1995 and he was originally Frederick Austerlitz and passed away in 1987.
But that's history. Clinton's coiffured confession and romantic reminiscence by someone who looked anything but romantic going after politics' Big Prize these last 18 months was rather refreshing. We wish her luck on the treadmill and the elliptical.
Now, how long do you suppose before someone re-starts pairing up Obama-Clinton as an ideal political couple dancing their way together to Nov. 4?
-- Andrew Malcolm
Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dance the Oscar-winning number "The Continental" in the 1934 classic "The Gay Divorcee."
File photo
From time to time, instead of excerpts with comments and background, The Ticket publishes the full text of a statement or speech so readers can get the full flavor of the remarks for themselves.
Here we're publishing Sen. Hillary Clinton's introduction today of Sen. Barack Obama before about 2,000 "Women for Obama" assembled in New York City's Hilton Towers. We're all indebted to the tired fingers of The Times' Louise Roug, who transcribed the lengthy remarks. Also, there's a video excerpt down below the Read More line.
The text begins here:
Good morning, New York. Thank you all. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here with all of us this morning. That's such a great way to start a day…I am grateful to all of you who have come together on behalf of Sen. Obama's campaign, on behalf of unity in the Democratic party. [loud applause]
One of the challenges of being in such a packed ballroom is that they have these bright lights which are in our eyes. I can't see anybody who is out there. But I know you're there. And I know you'll be there in November. [She then thanked local politicians in the crowd.]
Barack and I were talking before we came out about the rigors of the campaign trail, which are many. But it is such an extraordinary privilege to have done what we both of us had the honor of doing over the last many months. To travel this country on behalf of the values and ideals that we share and to see, day after day, the resilience and resourcefulness, the goodness and greatness, of the American people.
There are some differences. For example, Barack said, 'you look kind of rested.' I said, well, 'kind of' is the right descriptor. But I'm actually -– don't tell anybody –- trying to exercise a little bit, which I'm told does wonders for a person.
Because during the campaign, I'm sure you've read, Barack would get up faithfully every morning and go to the gym. And I would get up, and get my hair done. It's one of those Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire things that are part of our lives.
But we share this remarkable journey. And I could not be prouder to have this opportunity in front of so many of my friends and supporters to express my confidence in his candidacy and my commitment in ensuring that he will take the oath of office come next January.
I have had countless conversations with many people since the end of my campaign and I know how difficult it is for people who have invested their time, their energy, their money, their emotion, their entire being into any campaign, into any campaign, into any cause, that it really is an extraordinarily personal experience and I think it's one of the great opportunities that we offer to ourselves because of our political system, that really does depend upon thousands, hundred of thousands, millions of people coming together to support someone like Barack or me who decides to step into the public arena.
When it is over, I know how difficult that is. I have been in winning and losing campaigns for a very long time. And I have been in primary campaigns here in our Democratic party and I understand how challenging it is to turn on a dime, to say, O.K., close that chapter, now we're onto next chapter.
It is a process and it does take time for people to take a deep breath and go forward. But, of course, those who supported me, for who I am forever grateful, knew that we were on this journey together because we believed so strongly in the kind of country we want to see again and anyone who voted for me have so much in common with those who voted for Barack and it is critical that we join forces, because the Democratic party is a family –- sometimes a dysfunctional family –- but it is a family and we care about what is going to happen to the economy and health care and education, what is going to happen in Iraq and Afghanistan and to our young men and women in uniform, what is going to happen to energy policy and whether we ever take on climate change in a meaningful way.
We know that all of these concerns are ones that we get up in the morning with, we worry about and go to bed at night, still, wondering will we ever start acting like Americans again, will we roll up our sleeves collectively and start tackling those problems. There's nothing beyond us, once we make up our minds that this is the work we will do and that work cannot be done if we do not have a Democratic president in the White House.
The stakes in this election are high for everyone. Not just in this country but around the world. We have seen in a very painful way what happens when an American president leads us in the wrong direction, making decisions not premised on our values and who we really are.
We have seen the impact and many of us have witnessed it first-hand, traveling around the world: the quizzical, even angry, looks and words that come from those who just can't understand what has happened to America.
So the stakes are high for everyone, literally around the world. But I would argue they are particularly high for women. It matters....
Read more In her own words: Hillary Clinton on Barack Obama (and herself) »
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