“As a woman, and from one strong woman to another, I want to like her and want to support her desperately. And yet, you just can’t quite do it. I think she’s a great inspirational person. I think she rallies the troops. I don’t think she has what it takes to actually lead our country into a better economic future . . . And that pains me, because I want a strong woman candidate, and she is a strong woman candidate. But she’s not the right strong woman candidate.”…

Gwen Ecklund, the Crawford County GOP chair, said she believes Palin has been treated unfairly by the media but also “shoots off her mouth” in ways that cause problems. Nancy Bliesman, a housewife, said, “I just don’t see her even getting close” to winning the White House.

After Christi Taylor expressed her views, Michele Brown, a community volunteer, offered an even more surprising assessment. “I think a lot of women really wanted her to be someone special,” she said. “I think as time has passed that she’s just not a presidential candidate right now. Now maybe in time she will be, but she’s got some grooming to do. I’d rather see Hillary Clinton.”

The room erupted, but Christi Taylor seconded Brown’s comment. Neither she nor Brown said they agreed with Clinton on the issues, but they said she had the requisite qualifications to be president – experience, depth and intelligence.