Palin's Winks and You Betchas Divide Women of Florida

Never before perhaps has such an infinitesimally small gesture assumed such outsize importance in a presidential election as Sarah Palin's wink.

Because while, as the cliche has it, the eyes are the window of the soul, Palin's use of her eyes was a window to the views of women in one of the most hotly contested places in this election.

Palin's eyelash batting got under way from the opening moments of Thursday's contest against Joe Biden - and so did the parsing of its significance at a debate-watching party in Florida.

"She is trying to act like a southern belle. She is not acting like someone who could be president of the United States and John McCain is one heart attack away," said Priscilla Glascock, a 26-year-old nurse who is supporting Barack Obama. "The men are going to love it," she sneered.

Not just the men. "I think it's hysterical," said Amanda Day, 36, and a business consultant who is voting Republican. "I think women can relate with being in a situation where it's very serious, you kind of have to step back and add that humor, whether it's a wink or it's a shrug."

But for Kit Pepper, 52, the host and a committed Democrat, Palin's winking was an affront to the years she spent trying to build up her own political consultancy firm in a male-dominated world.

"She winked at us," Pepper said in a state of disbelief. "All the claims that the media is sexist and the Democrats are being sexist are out the window. The fact that this woman as a vice-presidential candidate stood on national TV and winked at me completely insults me."

Pepper's home in Winter Park, just outside Orlando, is in the politically volatile swath of central Florida - the main battlefield in a battleground state.

Half of her neighbors have McCain lawn signs, the rest are with Obama. When the guests started arriving with bottles of red wine labeled "Bitch" and "Red Truck" and McCain dancing dolls, they too evenly divided along party lines, choosing color-coded name tags: red for Republicans, blue for Democrats, and gold for Undecided.

But while the partisan loyalties were established well in advance, the Palin-Biden show soon moved into unfamiliar terrain as the first vice-presidential debate between a male and a female candidate in a generation. For the two dozen women guests, ranging in age from late teens to their 60s, it was impossible to overlook Palin's use of her femininity and Biden's efforts to avoid making gender-related gaffes.

The guests whooped when the CNN reaction meter consistently showed Palin getting a more enthusiastic response from male viewers than women. Biden, in contrast, was a bigger hit with women.

But their own reactions also mixed up the dividing lines of politics and gender. Some of the staunchest Democrats had a sneaking admiration for Palin's audacity - even while handing the debate to Biden on substance. "She is owning it now. Look at her," said Margaret Nolan, a management consultant. "You go girl."

Some of the Republicans could not help disassociating themselves from Palin - even while praising her skill at using winks and a folksy turn of phrase to connect with middle America.

"I can't imagine myself doing that wink," said Lydia Gardner, a Republican local government official first elected in 1987. "I lived in Boston. I lived in Washington and I went to a very cosmopolitan and very sophisticated university where that wink maybe would not have been done. But for her, and for where she is from and for her background it's perfectly appropriate."

Pepper had organised her party half-expecting Palin to self-destruct. Day, on the opposite end of the political spectrum, admitted she had switched off the television set this week during Palin's now notorious interview with CBS. "It was just too embarrassing," she said.

By the end of the night, most of the party agreed Palin had made no significant stumbles. But even as Palin's little flourishes became an Alaskan blizzard of doggone its, bless their hearts, darn rights, hecks, and you betchas, she did not inspire confidence either.

From the depths of the overstuffed sofa, Day gave Biden much higher marks on substance. "He walked all over her on foreign policy," she said but then argued that Americans don't vote on international issues anyway.

Palin also failed to dispel the impression that she had been fed her lines by Republican handlers and was dutifully spitting them out again. "If I hear her say the word 'maverick' one more time I am going to shoot somebody - and I am a Republican," said Lisa Romine.

If Biden felt a similar frustration, he hid it fairly well from the women in the room, but Barbara Nelen, 52, a massage therapist who wore an "undecided" name tag, thought she picked up some condescension. "At certain times, he just let out a big sigh," she said. "It was pretty clear he looked down on her."

Her daughter, Alexa, a student voting for the first time, did not feel for Palin. "I think she is trying to be more of a motivational speaker than telling us what she would do in the government."

When it was over, Day clenched both fists in the air like a prize fighter and screamed. "She survived, she survived."

Even the Democrats had to agree. Palin had survived - doggone it.