By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

Where do politicians get the idea that women, in lemming-like style, will vote for a presidential ticket because a woman is on it?

Women rallied to Hillary Clinton because they saw she'd paid her dues and because she'd earned her stripes in the Senate. And, lest we forget, Clinton supports the right to terminate a pregnancy.

Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton. She hasn't paid her dues yet. And she's adamantly anti-abortion.

That's just an awfully big leap. Rather than seeing Palin as a draw, a lot of women are going to be insulted that John McCain thought we could be swayed so easily.