Laura Berman: Commentary
Palin stirs emotion in women voters
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Palin raises some doubts
But at the same event, a self-described conservative woman, a nurse, worried aloud about Palin's roundabout answers to some questions.
"I had hoped she'd do a little better," she said.
"I don't know if she doesn't know the answers to questions, or if she's been coached not to answer them."
Palin's lack of sophistication about foreign policy and American history seem authentic, not stylistic, to me. Who would have coached her to fail to be able to recall a single U.S. Supreme Court case during Katie Couric's interview?
At the Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital event I attended on Friday, a few female physicians, self-described Republicans, said they were troubled by Palin: Even if her debate performance had been a display of confidence and camera-savvy, her command of relevant facts struck these professional women as cue-card deep.
"It's scary to imagine her becoming president if McCain is elected," said Patricia Doyon, of Waterford, who attended the Keego Harbor event.
Women stand up for Obama
And Palin has inspired suburban women who were quietly supporting Obama: Now they're active and out there.
Suddenly, self-identified stay-at-home-moms like Angela Youngblood are planting mums and Obama-Biden signs.
"I'm driving my minivan with four kids," says Youngblood, who hosted a debate and "Palin Bingo" party on Thursday night that drew 20 other women. (The bingo game challenged players to mark "darn right" and other favored phrases when the governor used them during the debate.)
Youngblood, 34, was a Hillary Clinton supporter who didn't get revved up about Obama until Palin was nominated.
"She really motivated me to get out there," Youngblood told me.
On Friday morning, Palin expressed disappointment with the McCain camp's decision to pull out of Michigan.
But between the Palin backlash, and the dire economy here, dialing down the McCain-Palin profile might help, not hurt, their campaign here.
You can reach Laura Berman at (248) 647-7221 or lberman at detnews.com.
Full at: http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081004/OPINION03/810040372/1409/METRO
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