Bizarrely, It's Working

Wait until Andrew sees this one:

Some of McCain’s biggest gains in this ABC News/Washington Post poll are among white women, a group to which “hockey mom” Sarah Palin has notable appeal: Sixty-seven percent view her favorably and 58 percent say her selection makes them more confident in McCain’s decision-making [bold mine-DL]. Among those with children, Palin does better yet. And enthusiasm for McCain among his female supporters has soared. White women have moved from 50-42 percent in Obama’s favor before the conventions to 53-41 percent for McCain now, a 20-point shift in the margin that’s one of the single biggest post-convention changes.

Men may respond more favorably to Palin, but it seems that there is a definite contingent of white women voters who are susceptible to the blatant pander and have responded just as McCain hoped they would.  According to the ABC News poll, McCain has also made up huge ground among Midwestern voters, which suggests that my initial assumptions that the choice would not draw more women and would hurt McCain in the Midwest were wildly off.  It’s true that I have been warning of Obama’s failure since February, but I really did think that a VP selection this off the wall would damage the candidate who made it.  It still seems to me that this Palin boost will ebb as she becomes better known, and I think the choice will ultimately prove to be a liability.  Right now, though, it is looking clever.