Poll: Americans more ready for woman president

[sabra]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--womanpresident-po0219feb19,0,7658676.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

Poll: Americans more ready for woman president


ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ A majority of American voters remain ready to elect a woman president and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making gains on that front while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's support remains steady, according to nationwide poll released Sunday.

In the poll commissioned by Hearst Newspapers, the percentage respondents who said Rice should run for president swelled to 48 percent, up from 42 percent in a similar poll conducted in February of last year.

Clinton, who polls show leading all potential Democratic candidates for the party's 2008 nomination, saw mounting resistance to a presidential campaign: 44 percent of the people polled said she should not run, up from 37 percent a year ago. At the same time, 51 percent said she should run. Fifty-three percent said she should run in last year's poll.

Rice has said she will not run for president while Clinton has said her focus is on winning re-election to the Senate this year.

[Totally Committed]

1. Don't fall for it... it's a trap...

It's the "let's make 'em nominate Hillary" bullshit in another guise. They want her to seem electable.

Don't go there... America is NOT ready, and you heard it here first.

TC

[rodeodance]

2. good enough for me.

The Siena survey found:

_53 percent of respondents said a woman president would match a male president as commander-in-chief. Fifty-nine percent saw equal performances on foreign policy.

_50 percent said there would be "no difference" between a female and a male president when it came to ordering troop withdrawals from Iraq. Thirty-eight percent believed a woman would be "more inclined" than a man to withdraw troops and 2 percent said a woman would be "less inclined."

_Thirty-eight percent said a woman would handle a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina better than a man while 8 percent said a man would do better.

The telephone poll of 1,120 registered voters was conducted Feb. 6-10.

[Texacrat]

13. And you heard this from the Christian Coalition?

n/t

[sendero]

20. I agree totally..

... along with the "we might nominate Condi, so y'all should nominate Hillary" bullshit.

Condi has no constituency. Blacks won't vote for her, Southern whites won't vote for her, hispanics won't vote for her anyone with a brain won't vote for her.

Repugs aren't stupid electorally. They know full well she couldn't get elected dogcatcher, yet you keep hearing that ridiculous talking point. It's a game.

[humbled_opinion]

3. However...

I agree that polically the timing may not be right for Hillary, you cannot dismiss the fact that
a large percentage of Americans agree that a woman would handle a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina better than a man and a woman would handle peace better then a man handles War.

Just my $.02

[wisteria]

8. Some other woman perhaps, but not Hillary or Condi n/t

[last_texas_dem]

4. I have no problem with a woman president

However, I think the Democrats could find a much stronger female candidate than Hillary. (And since Hillary has *still* given no solid indication, that I know of, that she is running for President, I'm really starting to get sick of the media and the Repugs pushing her "candidacy.")

Oh yeah, and the idea of Condi as President is scary as hell.

[sallyseven]

6. Like who? Who is stronger???

Get real. Women are better problem solvers than men.

[last_texas_dem]

11. There are several

women who I believe would perform just as well or better than Hillary Clinton in a Presidential election. Obviously, Hillary has better name recognition and more support, according to polls, than any other Democratic woman right now, but that isn't saying a whole lot. (It is similar to how Joe Lieberman was the Dems' original frontrunner before the '04 elections; he simply had the most name recognition.) Hillary is only the strongest in the sense that, right now, before she or anyone else has even announced that they are running in '08, has the best name recognition.

Who I do believe would be a stronger female candidate for the Democrats in '08? Just about any female governor or senator currently serving. Senators Boxer, Feinstein, Murray, Landrieu, Lincoln, Governors Sebelius of KS, Napolitano of AZ, etc. They've all got their plusses and minuses, but I believe all of them would have a better shot, after a well-run campaign, at capturing the White House than Hillary. Why? Because Hillary has been defined and vilified by the right-wing for more than a decade now, and the distorted image they have produced of her has stuck. Most of the Democratic base would support her, but next to no Republicans and not enough independents could ever be convinced to vote for her no matter how good of a campaign she might run, IMHO. The Dems running Hillary would be like the Repugs running Newt Gingrich; simply too divisive of a figure, even though in Hillary's case this reputation was not of her own making, to be an effective candidate and appeal to people outside of the base. Yes, I believe it's unfair but that's simply the way I see it.

As for your other comment, I'm not even getting into it. It's just sexist and counter-productive flamebait.

[saltpoint]

5. On the question itself, I think a candidate's sex or gender is much less

an obstacle now than it might have been in 1944, and much less on DU than in hyper-rural Georgia (the folks who are about to nominate and maybe elect Ralph Reed as their Lt. Gov.).

Many folks on DU and elsewhere are just fine with a president who happens to be Jewish or Catholic or female and on down the list.

When xenophobia runs low, all men and women are created equal and should be fairly considered for a top job.

Alexis Herman. Barbara Boxer. Why the hell not.

[Placebo]

7. I heart President Clinton.

President Hillary Rodham Clinton, that is. :patriot:

[AlGore-08.com]

26. If you read the article, it shows that Clinton's support is decreasing

eom

[bemildred]

9. Americans even more ready for President that is not a stooge.

One elected in an honest election would be good, too.

[zann725]

10. I've been ready for female Prez since Geraldine F in '84...as were many at

the time, as I recall. Then NOTHING, for 22 years. And both Condi and Hilary "align" themselves more with the Powers-that-Be...Male interests. Give me a REAL Dem, who IF she just HAPPENS to also be a Woman...let it be someone like Boxer...NOT just a Woman, but ALSO a REAL Dem...with the People's interests at heart.

[scot]

12. Intellectually,

people will say they are ready for a female president and believe it when they say it, but elections are more an emotional exercise than an intellectual one. We're still a ways away.

[brentspeak]

14. This country is more likely to elect Howard the Duck

than it would Hillary Clinton.

One has to question not simply the political intelligence of a "Hillary for President!" proponent, but their basic intelligence in general.

[Raine]

15. That's what they say when

they are polled because it's sounds like the kind of answer that should be given but it's nothing but bullshit! This country won't elect a woman President for generations to come, people here are just to backward.:banghead:

[depakid]

16. Agreed

and there's selection and response bias to take into account on the cheap polls.

I also agree with the poster above. Hillary has such high negatives that she doesn't stand a chance.

I doubt any woman would- and my guess is that a considerable number of American women would actually vote against based her based largely on gender. Sad, but I think it's the sorry truth about all too many people in the regressive regions of the country.

[Demeter]

17. Whenever A Group Effort Becomes So Badly Fouled By Bad Management

the powers that be let in a woman, on the theory that she will clean up the cesspool. And she does, and then the he-men move back in and foul it up again.

I say, if there is no love of country in the men, let the country fail, so that those bloodsuckers have to find some other place to gut. Then the women can clean it up for themselves and their children, and limit the abuse of power in the future.

[Solly Mack]

18. lol just strikes me as funny - and not a good funny - that

we can't even get a legally elected President and yet the Press ignores that problem and continues to perpetuate the illusion that all is well (and getting better) with elections in America.


A woman President is not a step forward if we can't even trust the election process.

Oh, the illusion of forward thinking is there - but I'm tired of illusions.

[superconnected]

19. Actually this pisses me off. Fucking men.

Maybe even some fucking women in the United states, actually have a problem with what gender the president is.

Neanderthals. I won't support condosleeza because of her policys.

Both Hillary(walmart) and Condoleeza are Corporate whores. I also think Bill Clinton and GW are corporate whores so don't think I reserve that term for women.

I wish an honest black woman who is uncorruptable would get elected president. And I want black women on the supreme court too. What do we get from bush - white patriarchial men who actively go against womens rights. Oh and harriet meirs, and anti-women-woman for a nominee. Fuck that.

I'm sick of patriarchs and the women who support them. If the dems would just crack open the walnut and put in a female black senator that stands for everyones rights, we'd have our candidate. Instead we act like a wimpier version of the repukes - white and practically 50's values when looking at candidates.

As it stands - barak obama for prez.

[zann725]

21. If England had a Female Prime Minister 25 years ago, and other foreign

countries have too many years past, we do NOT lead the world in "progressiveness"...here in a country where our politicians are STILL hung up on controlling a woman's right to control her own reproductive rights.

America is FAR more conservative, macho, mysogynistic, male "power-oriented" than most other countries. Michael Moore pointed that out in his "Columbine" movie, when he pointed out stats of murders, and gun-related crime in America FAR ABOVE that in most other countries in the world. And the gun is a phallic symbol...as are Nuclear Weapons, and bombs, etc...which America STILL leads the world in.

NO America, middle-America, OR our Neo-cons are NOT ready for a Female Prez. The current "hype" is just a "look the other way" hype courtesy of Poppy B. to Clinton...for recently "becoming his best friend" )and indicrectly making a mockery of a past Dem Prez and the Dem party).
The only reason the Repugs would "float" such an idea is because they know it would be a SURE "lose" for the Dems in future.

Unless of course they run B. Boxer, or someone like Sheila Jackson Lee or Maxine Waters. A REAL Dem...not a DLC "Woman" candidate.

[AnneD]

22. America more ready for a woman president...

hell, we've gotten use to an idiot monkey boy, a woman would be a wonderful step up (except for Condi-she is snake girl).

[lagavulin]

23. Where are the "Americans more ready for 3rd Party President polls...?

Sorry hardcore Dems...I'm just saying...

[0007]

24. Love to see Rice run.

But she won't!

[Generator]

25. Would her name be....Clinton>!?

Thinking of church lady voice.

[Patchuli]

27. Fuggedaboutit!

And this comes from a feminist for 35 years. Neither of them are going to cut it.

Gore/Feingold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Doremus]

28. I don't think the reaction to Hillary has to do with her gender.

At least it doesn't for me.

It has to do with the fact that she has more baggage than a pack mule.

I got more than my fill of Whitewater and Vince Foster the first time around, thanks.