Women in the Spotlight

With the "18 million cracks" that Hillary Clinton put in the glass ceiling this year, and then the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as GOP vice president, the views of women voters have taken on particular importance. Last night, just before Palin's speech, NEWSWEEK 's Suzanne Smalley trolled the floor of the convention hall, asking women delegates what they expected— and wanted—to hear from Palin. Meanwhile, reporter Steve Freiss monitored two focus groups of women (married and unmarried) as they watched the speech from their home state of Nevada. Their reports:

'I Want Her to Show How Strong She Is'
by Suzanne Smalley

Ellen Jernigan is proud of Sarah Palin because, as a Republican delegate and 69-year-old councilwoman in Hernando, Miss., she knows what it takes to run a city—even a small one—in addition to a household. Angelina Burney, a 39-year-old alternate delegate from Alaska, says Palin is an inspiration to all women because she proves "you can juggle career and family and do it with a deep faith." Kaye Kirk, 49, of Oklahoma City, said she was so moved by Palin's historic vice presidential nod that she and a friend traded letters recalling their deceased mothers and "how pleased women who have been trailblazers would be" to see the first woman on the Republican ticket.

For all the evident pride Republican delegates here in St. Paul feel about Palin's rise, many of them also said they wanted her to answer critics with a speech that delivered specifics about her experience and worldview. In a series of interviews NEWSWEEK conducted with female delegates on the floor of St. Paul's Xcel Center in the moments before Governor Palin took to the stage, several argued that Palin should use her moment in the spotlight to show the country that she is not just a woman, but also a qualified woman.

Deanna Wallace, an 18-year-old from Shreveport, La., wearing pins that said "I Heart Sarah Palin" and "From the Coldest State Comes the Hottest V.P.," said that while she is thrilled to have a woman on the ticket—especially one who hunts, fishes, and mothers, in addition to governing—it is important for Palin to establish her credentials. "It's not as important that she's a woman, but that she's her—she's living next door to her constituents," Wallace said. "She's run a city and state….I really want her to get up there and show how strong she is as a candidate, not necessarily as a woman."

Joyce Shirley, a 67-year-old delegate from Fritch, Texas, said she expected Palin to "have answers for everyone." Lilliana Belardo de O'Neal of the Virgin Islands said she wanted Palin to tell the audience how "she can run this country." And Donna Bahorich, a 52-year-old delegate from Houston, marveled at Palin's thrift, saying she admires her for selling the state's jet on eBay (one of the few details Palin's speech offered about her work as governor), but admitted she wants to know more about Palin's "worldview and philosophy." Bahorich shrugged off critics who say the media has been sexist in asking questions about Palin's resume. "It's a legitimate question—let's look at experience," Bahorich said. "I hope it's a big part of her speech tonight, all she has done in two years."

Ultimately, Palin's experience and the nuts and bolts of what she did as governor were conspicuously missing from her speech, which was heavier on snark than it was on substance. Nonetheless, the crowd on the floor of the Xcel Center last night was rapturous.  Would undecided female voters agree with Angelina Burney, an alternate delegate from Alaska who works for Palin and thinks it's a good thing that she's "the real deal, a woman from the soil (and) as far from the establishment as you can get?" Or does Palin, whose history is more or less a blank slate, have a long way to go before women outside of the Republican Party flock to her? Palin is expected to start campaigning without McCain by her side next week. How independent and undecided female voters are receiving her will become a lot clearer in the coming eight weeks, once the teleprompter disappears and the tough and spontaneous questions start getting asked.

'How's She Going to Help Us?'
By Steve Friess

Early on in the conversation that followed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's big speech, a 52-year-old divorcee voiced a question many in the room were wondering. "How does she have time for politics when she's raising five children?" Janet Merriman asked to nervous, empathetic laughter from the other unmarried women in the conference room. "Where's she had all this time? How can you devote the proper time to your special needs child when you're running for the vice presidency?"

Had a man asked such question of Governor Palin, they'd likely be castigated for having a sexist or partisan double standard when it comes to candidates. But Merriman is an independent, undecided female voter—who liked Sen. Hillary Clinton. That makes what she thinks, and how she ultimately decides, one of the most crucial questions in presidential politics. It's also why the every thought and word of Merriman—and about 20 other married and unmarried undecided women voters from swing-state Nevada—were being so carefully tracked as Palin delivered her acceptance speech in St. Paul on Wednesday night. The focus groups—coordinated by Anna Greenberg and Stan Greenberg of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research—were commissioned by the Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund, which describes itself as dedicated to encouraging unmarried women to join the political conversation.