In spite of ABC's extended female presidential informercial, Commander-in-Chief (read, H.R.C.), a recent USA Today poll reveals that, at this point, America still isn't ready for a Madame-in-Chief:

Asked if they would vote for a qualified woman for president, 13% of Americans in a USA TODAY Poll last month said no — including 16% of women, 10% of men.

That's about double the percentage who ruled out voting for a Jew, black or Catholic the last time those questions were asked, in 2003.

What's more, some of the 86% who said they would vote for a woman probably didn't mean it, says Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Poll at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Those surveyed "feel some social pressure to say the 'acceptable' response," he says, and may want to reflect the nation's aspirations as a land of opportunity.

The 34% who said "most of my neighbors" wouldn't vote for a female president may have given a more candid measure of the public's views.

Related E.R. post.

Labels: David C. Price