Abortion Rights Groups Target Palin

We knew this was coming.

A number of pro-choice groups are targeting Sarah Palin, spending a ton of cash in an effort to make sure women - particularly undecided voters, no doubt - don't take too much of a liking to the feisty Alaska governor and cast their vote for John McCain in November.

Three major advocates of abortion rights are planning to spend nearly $30 million to defeat John McCain's run for president, citing his new running mate as the core reason, The Hill reports.

NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood and EMILY's List plan to spend $30 million, combined, to defeat McCain's presidential run, citing his anti-abortion running mate as the main reason.

"This is the most anti-choice ticket in history of the Republican Party," NARAL Political Director Beth Shipp told the paper. "McCain put someone as outside the mainstream as you can on his ticket, which is Sarah Palin."

Get the new
PD toolbar!NARAL says Palin is especially troublesome for the Independent and Republican pro-choice women in suburban and exurban swing districts who may play a pivotal role in the election. The group will reportedly spend $10 million to target 34 to 35 congressional districts in battleground states.

NARAL also points out that Palin, a member of the anti-abortion group Feminists for Life, said during her campaign for governor that she is opposed to abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. But she also said she would support abortion only if the mother's life was in danger. But when it came to her daughter, she said, "I would choose life."

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund says of Palin: "This selection may satisfy the right wing of the Republican Party, but it will further alienate mainstream women voters." This group is also spending $10 million to reach out to pro-choice voters in battlegrounds.

EMILY's List, which supports female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights, will spend a similar amount. This group on Wednesday released a new poll on what women voters, including Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters, think of Palin and the McCain-Palin ticket as compared to the Obama-Biden ticket.

Of the 800 likely Democratic, Republican, and Independent women voters, the poll found, among other things:

-Palin's background and personal narrative are not particularly appealing to women voters
-Several of Palin's positions on issues, including that on abortion, alienate large segments of the women's electorate and add to the perception that the GOP ticket is out of step with women voters' views and priorities.
-Women voters conclude that the Obama/Biden ticket is more in step with the issues and concerns that are important to women than is the McCain/Palin ticket.

"With the most important decision of his candidacy, Senator McCain managed to appear politically expedient, reverse his advantage on experience, damage his potential for growth among independents and undecided voters, and turn off the women who supported Senator Hillary Clinton," said EMILY's List President Ellen Malcolm. "If Senator McCain thought that putting Governor Palin on the ticket would be a game changer, he may have been right, but not in the way he intended. Senator McCain has seriously misjudged women voters if he thinks he can win them over simply by putting a woman on the ticket."


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