McCain Panders In ‘Women Only’ Townhall

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

McCain targets women at Hudson campaign stop

By CRAIG GILBERT
Posted: July 11, 2008

Hudson - In a first-of-its-kind event for his campaign, a town hall meeting for women only, Republican John McCain argued Friday that "when you cut through all (of Democrat Barack Obama’s) smooth rhetoric," McCain’s economic agenda of business tax cuts, lower spending and expanded trade makes him a better candidate for women than Obama.

Lauding Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign, and even hailing the first female speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, McCain sought to connect with a demographic that, in his words, is "as we all know . . . a majority of the voters." …

But the event, at J&L Steel Erectors, was intended as an outreach to women in particular. On Thursday, Obama hosted an economic event geared to women in northern Virginia.

At the Hudson event, McCain was accompanied by his wife, Cindy. The local businesswoman who introduced McCain - company Chief Executive Officer LouAnne Reger - joked about fashion, dieting and her two divorces as she warmed up the crowd.

"I know you all want to know how to lose five pounds in one week. All you have to do is host a town hall for John McCain," Reger told the crowd, drawing laughter.

"Do you want to know how to lose 30 pounds?" Cindy McCain said a few moments later. "Help your husband run for president."

The hundreds in the audience were overwhelmingly women.

"Yesterday (Thursday) in New York, Senator Obama went on at great length about how much he cares about women’s issues," McCain said. "I believe him. But when you cut through all the smooth rhetoric, Senator Obama’s policies would make it harder for women to start new businesses, harder for women to create or find new jobs, harder for women to manage the family budget, and harder for women and their families to meet their tax burden." …

"Juggling family and career can be hard," McCain told his audience. "Now you have to deal with the rising costs of both running a business and raising a family."

Democrats criticized McCain this week for opposing legislation in Congress aimed at ensuring pay parity for women; McCain has said the legislation was flawed.

"We have not done enough. I’m committed to making sure that there is equal pay for equal work," McCain told the crowd Friday…

The crowd at Friday’s event was made up largely, but not entirely, of McCain supporters. Some people interviewed supported Obama or were undecided.

The McCain campaign said seats were mostly allocated through a group of pro-McCain women in the state who recruited friends, phone-tree style, to come…

Women are the only majority that are treated like a minority.

Will Mr. McCain now have ‘men only’ townhalls as well? And will he address the special needs of men?

How about some ‘whites only’ townhalls?

"We have not done enough. I’m committed to making sure that there is equal pay for equal work," McCain told the crowd Friday.

Exactly what more can be done? And how is this the business of the federal government anyway?

Lauding Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign, and even hailing the first female speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi…

Bartender!