Preliminary Polling Results: Hillary Clinton made believers out of more young women than did Sarah Palin
Last year a college age woman who read one of my books came to my home to interview me for a school project. We spoke about the obstacles that women broadcasters and politicians have faced over the years. She was bright and pleasant and demonstrated sophisticated thinking about the topics. I even got the distinct feeling that she read my books! When she turned to leave she said, shaking her head: “It’s interesting to read about these women, but I just don’t believe that we will have a woman president in my lifetime.” I was taken aback by her pessimism. She is after all, the future.
It made me wonder if other women held the same negative view about women in politics. To that end, I’m polling college women to learn whether or not they were positively or negatively influenced by the presidential and vice presidential bids of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin.I’ve conducted my "Believing or Not Believing in Madam President Poll" to college women, age 18-25 and after a little over 100 surveys have been returned, there is evidence to show that more young women were encouraged by the presidential race of Hillary Clinton than by the vice-presidential bid of Sarah Palin. The poll asks women to reflect about whether or not the campaigns of these national female politicians made them believe that there would be a woman president in her lifetime.
Out of 102 surveys, sixty-two said "yes" that the presidential bid of Hillary Clinton encouraged her to believe that a woman would be president in her lifetime. Only twenty-four were encouraged by the vice-presidential bid of Sarah Palin. Still some respondents were not encouraged by either woman and a handful thought that both women’s efforts turned them into believers.
These are early results that come mostly from Penn State Lehigh Valley classes. After the survey is distributed in other areas (Cal State Chico, Stonehill, SUNY, PSU University Park) I plan to publish the results. Some comments about Hillary Clinton from respondents include: "She was one of the first women who looked like she could win" and "She made me believe that a woman will be a strong candidate." Another respondent said, "I knew she wouldn’t win." As for Palin, students wrote: "She made women sound stupid" and "The media focused too much on her personal life and not enough on her politics." Another respondent said Palin made her a believer in a woman president in her lifetime because "As soon as Obama won many people were already campaigning for Palin in 2012."
So, here’s a sneak peek tease about the results. Stay tuned!
©2010 Nichola Gutgold for SeniorWomen.com
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